


The Fall of Lady Chaos

by McNuggets



Series: Those Crazier South Park Days [2]
Category: South Park
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, F/M, Gen, Minor Character Death, South Park: The Fractured But Whole, Temporary Character Death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-06
Updated: 2020-06-06
Packaged: 2021-03-04 03:28:52
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 31,541
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24576838
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/McNuggets/pseuds/McNuggets
Summary: To think that you've abandoned the world and joined the correct side, that everything is perfect and no one can touch you, that you know superheroes are the enemy and the one supervillain you've come to love was not as evil as they claimed him to be.Nothing is always as it seems.
Relationships: Kenny McCormick/Original Female Character(s), Kyle Broflovski/Original Female Character(s), Leopold "Butters" Stotch/Original Female Character(s)
Series: Those Crazier South Park Days [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1776412
Comments: 1
Kudos: 10





	1. Don't Speak Ill of the Dead

**Author's Note:**

> For those that wanted a sequel.
> 
> Here you go.
> 
> Takes place two and a half months after the first story.

Death doesn’t give anyone a warning. You can’t really prepare for death, as it just appears any time, in the most inconvenient place, and tears your life apart until you drop the phone from your hands because you’re just wracked in painful tears.

She was in Amsterdam when she had gotten the call, an hour before going on stage to perform for a sold-out show. Who knew that grief could keep you from performing? She didn’t know until two songs in, and suddenly she was on the floor, crying because that one bittersweet song that she created hit her in the worst way. It was by the grace of her stage team that handled her breakdown with strength.

She didn’t expect the outpouring of condolences and well wishes from her fans, those who learned of her sister’s passing.

The European tour was canceled after that night, and the next morning she was on the first plane home. 

* * *

Her sister’s gravestone looked so cold out here in the middle of a snowy city. It was located in a graveyard next to the old church. She couldn’t help but find that horrible, that she was buried next to a church. She was Jewish, she should have been placed somewhere else. She shouldn’t have been buried in South Park at all. She found herself glaring scathingly at the grave next to hers, because it was all _his_ fault. It was her father’s fault for tearing up her family and leaving her mother, taking away her only sister and moving them all the way to Colorado. There was so many things wrong with this entire picture, and Alice Horowitz’s gravestone was the biggest thing on that list.

She wouldn’t have died if their father didn’t take her away, she wouldn’t have left if their father wasn’t such an asshole. Their father was the blame for all of this, because if he didn’t leave their mother then Alice wouldn’t have went with him across the fucking country and she wouldn’t have gotten so famous with her inventions and then she wouldn’t have been murdered by crime lords.

Elizabeth Baker let out an enraged cry and kicked the offending gravestone with her foot, not caring about desecrating a grave. Richard Horowitz took her family away, and he was too dead for her to scream at him. Elizabeth kicked the grave two more times before collapsing into the snow, crying again.

Kicking her father’s gravestone wouldn’t bring her sister back.

* * *

He wasn’t sure if the doorbell caused him to fall off the couch, but it happened. Kyle was half-asleep with the statistics textbook on his face when it happened, the sound causing the man to sit up erratically and lose his balance off the couch. He checked his watch, growing panicked when it read 9AM, but quickly remembering that it was a Saturday.

School was slowly killing him, probably.

“Coming!” He called out when it rang for a second time, hurrying over to the door and half-expecting Tweek or Kenny, only to be faced with a stranger that looked terribly familiar but he didn’t remember where.

“I’m looking for…” She checked the paper in her hand, “Kyle Broflovski?” Her hair was tied back in a tight bun, loose curls framing her face. She adjusted the glasses to double-check the paper she had, hoping for a good sign.

Elizabeth had to check three different floors of this apartment building because the address was illegible.

Kyle continued to stare at the woman, his sleep-addled brain kickstarting the longer he stood there. A name suddenly popped into his head, “Lizzie Baker?”

No, that was impossible.

Elizabeth shied her eyes away from him instantly, taken aback. “…wow, you’re the first who’s recognized me in this city.”

Kyle was fully awake now, staring at her with wide eyes, “Dude, you’re on Spotify, how could no one recognize you? You’re insanely popular at my college! What the fuck are you doing here?” He gestured at the apartment in general. “Shouldn’t you be in Europe right now?”

This wasn’t going how she wanted it to, and the attention to detail was annoying her. “I had to cancel it, but that’s the main reason why I’m here.” She turned the paper around, showing him a hand-written letter. “You were friends with my sister, Alice Horowitz.”

The name had him biting back a gross cringe and he stared at her for a new reason now, “You’re…her sister?”

Elizabeth smiled faintly, “We were twins, but that’s besides the point. Would you mind if I…took a moment of your time? She talked about you all the time, and I…really need…to…know how her life was.”

He didn’t know what to feel at the information, only knowing the woman for her divine hatred of him more than anything else. It suddenly hit him, like an ugly pull to the gut. This woman thought Alice was really dead. She was in the midst of mourning family and she had no idea of the truth behind it. Kyle swallowed thickly, stepping away from the door, “Uh, would you like something to drink? Hot cocoa, tea, coffee?”

Elizabeth shook her head, “Not right now.” She stepped further inside, tucking a lock of hair behind her ear and waiting for him to close the door.

“I honestly didn’t know Alice had a sister.” Kyle admitted, showing her to the couch. “She never once said anything about family, only about her dad, but nothing else.”

“I guess that was my fault…the more we both branched off into our own sects, we decided to keep private about each other for safety reasons. Alice didn’t want her family threatened for her inventions and I didn’t wish to be in the spotlight more than I was.” She gripped her skirt slightly after sitting down, not knowing what to do with her hands. “We’d keep contact, however, but after graduating high school she contacted me less and less.”

“Oh. Well…um…so…” He really didn’t know how to react, mostly because of the woman right in front of him. Christ, if Tweek knew that Lizzy Baker was in his apartment the blonde would be screaming right now. “Why did you grow apart?”

Elizabeth sighed, “My father… he and my mother never saw eye to eye on anything, and she did her best to make the marriage work. He was distant and she was tormented, but when my mother found solace in another man he became…judgmental. He left her when we were twelve, and there was a custody battle. It wasn’t pretty in the slightest.” She took a steady breath, “The judge wanted to know who we wanted to live with, and I wanted to live with my mother, and I would have thought Alice would have wanted it as well.” She shook her head sadly, “Alice has such a big heart, she didn’t want him to be lonely, so she chose to be with him. It was the same big heart that made her want to do better for the world…” Elizabeth choked up just slightly, “He always encouraged her, and sometimes I wondered if he never…” She stopped then, taking a deep breath and reaching up to brush the tears from her eyes.

Kyle quickly looked around for a tissue box, finding one over at the computer desk and retrieving it for her. “I’m so sorry.” He couldn’t tell her the truth, it would just tear her up even more. “You—you said she talked about me often.”

Elizabeth took a tissue, balling it up in her hand instead of using it. “You were one of her closest friends in high school, she always talked about you. It really means a lot if my sister trusted you, because she loathed liars and anything deceitful. You and two others, Stan and Wendy, and she also mentioned a boy named Leopold.”

Kyle looked away quickly, suddenly remembering how she had tried to kill him. A sick feeling in his stomach told him it was from betrayal, when he outed her to the dean. Well, shit. What would Elizabeth even say if he told her what he and the others did to her? “She…really thought that much about me, did she?” He couldn’t feel more like a douche.

Elizabeth took another deep breath, “She was loyal, Alice…would die for her friends, if she could. But…enough of that, I’m…here because I’ve been trying to learn about her final year. As soon as her inventions came out, everything went haywire. I think it was because of the attention she was getting, but after a while she just stopped talking to me around her freshman year at college. I knew about the death threats, but…” She trailed off after that, starting to shake just slightly. “To think that she would be killed by crime lords for what she’s done…”

Kyle nearly gagged on the air he breathed. Elizabeth thought that Alice died due to crime lords? Oh, he wanted to tell her. He longed to tell her what had actually happened, but no matter how he would tell it he would be painted in a bad light. He wasn’t the good guy in any of this, he was the reason that she went completely evil. He never felt so bad about it until now, and the last thing he wanted to do was tell this woman’s sister that her sibling was alive but on the side of evil.

He hated to know what she’d do.

Elizabeth was quiet for a while, unable to keep going lest she starts crying again. She kept her eyes on Kyle, thinking about what to ask him. She wasn’t sure what to ask. “I’m sorry for being so quiet.” She whispers, looking away. “I don’t know where to start...”

Kyle tried a kind smile, “I can tell you whatever I can, Lizzie—“

“Elizabeth.” She said quietly, “My name is Elizabeth.”

Kyle nodded, looking away. “Elizabeth, that’s a nice name.” He looked back at her, curious. “How long are you planning to stay? I’m not sure if I can cover six years in the span of two hours.” He glanced back at his Statistics homework, frowning. “I was doing my homework before you came by.” Before he fell asleep, that is. 

Elizabeth frowned, “Oh, I—I’m sorry. I didn’t think...” She stopped herself and thought about it, “I planned to stay for a week, my Hotel is downtown.”

Kyle nodded, “Well, I can make arrangements and we can make a day of it. We can get together and I can buy you breakfast—“

“Oh you don’t have to go all that way.” Elizabeth looked dumbfounded, flushing just slightly.

“I insist.” Kyle pulled on a wide smile, “It’s not every day where I can treat a famous violinist to breakfast.”

“I-I’m not that famous.”Elizabeth was really blushing now, she couldn’t quite understand it since she had encountered fans before, and none of them had made her react so differently. Was it because of him? Kyle was a nice looking man, perhaps it was that. Maybe, possibly.

Elizabeth soon stood up and smoothed her skirt down, and Kyle stood to join her, the other boy still trying to contain his excitement that he was talking to The Lizzie Baker. He gave her a shy grin and led her to the door, “I guess we have a date, then.”

The woman froze drastically at the word _date_ for a split second before resuming her relaxed posture, nodding. “A-A date, then.” She walked through the door when he opened it, turning to face him again, “Tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow.” Kyle repeated, shutting the door. He looked energized, beginning to pace the room before taking out his phone and dialing a number. He took the phone to his ear, bouncing on his heels. “Tweek? Tweek! You wouldn’t believe who I just met. ... no, Lizzie Baker.” Kyle held the phone away once Tweek began to scream, laughing and bringing it back to his ear once the other calmed down. “Yeah dude, we’re having breakfast tomorrow. ... Yeah dude, I’ll try to get you an autograph.” 

Suddenly, Kyle dropped the phone, clasping his hands to his mouth and letting out a small scream.

He just made a date with a violinist.

* * *

It was another one of those mundane days at Tweek Bros., the same customers and the same tasks. Kenny was wiping some tables while Tweek was pouring some coffee for Stan and Wendy, the couple sitting near the windows with their Physics books out. No one else was in the store, and no one else expected that Kyle would burst through the door looking positively shocked.

“GUYS!”

“GAH!” Tweek spilled some coffee onto the counter as soon as the man burst into the store, his eye twitching as he turned to address the ginger. “DUDE!”

Kyle realized his mistake and pulled on an apologetic smile, “Sorry Tweek, but—you wouldn’t believe my morning.”

Tweek looked anxious, realizing what Kyle meant by morning. He had a date with Lizzie Baker. “Y-You weren’t kidding about the whole Lizzie Baker thing were you? Oh god, you had breakfast with Lizzie Baker, oh Jesus Kyle!” He hurried to serve Stan and Wendy their drinks before darting over to him. “Where is it?”

Kyle laughed, because Tweek was bouncing on his heels looking like a hopeful puppy that was promised treats. He pulled out the slip of paper and handed it to him. Tweek’s eyes went wide as saucers, taking the paper and reading over the script. “She wrote me a letter!” Tweek began to make a happy squeal, trying his hardest not to wrinkle the paper in his hands.

“Whoa, wait, what?” Stan got up from his table to look at what Tweek had, “You really had fucking breakfast with THE Lizzie Baker. Lizzie, the woman with the amazing violin.”

Wendy followed, also gazing at the autographed note. “What brought this on, isn’t she supposed to be in Europe right now?”

“What the hell is Lizzie Baker doing in South Park during a world tour?” Stan nearly cried out. The excitement attracted Kenny and he was soon with the four of them, not knowing who Lizzie Baker was but interested all the same.

Kyle looked at all four of his friends, “She actually came to me because she’s…how do I put this…” Kyle thought about the right words, “Lizzie Baker is the twin sister of Alice.”

The statement seemed to stun the others into silence, and Stan blinked. “W-what?”

“Alice Alice?” Wendy questioned, “Alice Horowitz Alice?”

“Lady Chaos Alice?”

Kyle nodded, “Yeah. Seems that she got the news about her death and stopped her tour to come here and pay her respects. She actually came to me because she wanted to know about how Alice was before she…”

“Before she faked her death.” Wendy said flatly, “I do hope you told her otherwise.”

Kyle blanched, “What am I supposed to say to her? Sorry Liz your sister isn’t actually dead but still alive and the newest super villain in Colorado? It doesn’t really sound good to say when she’s already emotional over everything.”

“It’s better than letting her think that Alice is dead!” Wendy cried out, “That woman needs closure.”

“That woman is a civilian.” Kyle said in a hushed voice, “Alice turned evil because of what I did. She’s with Chaos because of me! I can’t honestly out myself to a civilian, I don’t care how much it would make her feel better. For intents and purposes, Alice is dead to everyone but us.”

“I hate to think that Lizzie is hurt solely because she doesn’t know the truth.” Tweek commented, “It sounds horrible to let someone go on thinking that their loved one had died, I don’t care if they’re a civilian or not.”

The only one who was quiet was Kenny, thinking about everything he was hearing while everyone else was debating on telling this woman the truth. It had only been two months since Alice had faked her death, weeks since Kenny had vowed to get her back from the depths of evil. He knew there was still some good inside of her, somewhere deep inside of her. She had been treated unfairly, and to be honest it was all of their faults that she was fighting alongside Professor Chaos. Stan and Wendy shouldn’t have dumped her for their own safety, Kyle shouldn’t have taken all of this to the dean of the college, and Kenny should have realized that she wasn’t just a civilian playing dress-up, that she really was Iron Man, and that she had all the potential of being a super hero like everyone else.

No, all of their hands were dirty. They were all to blame for pushing her closer and closer to Professor Chaos, and as long as she was with him she wouldn’t be anywhere close to being saved.

Unless they were to get outside help… someone that meant something to Alice, someone that could make her see reason…

By the time Kenny zoned back in everyone was still debating, throwing in multiple reasons for why Elizabeth should know the truth while there were multiple reasons why the truth would hurt more than the lie.

“Guys.”

Everyone effectively stopped talking once Kenny spoke up, everyone looking at him curiously. Kenny still looked thoughtful, taking his hands out of his apron pockets as he began to gesture with them.

“We have a great opportunity on our hands, don’t you see?” Kenny began, smiling. “Lizzie Baker is Alice’s sister. Someone Alice loves and cares for greatly. We could use this to our advantage.”

Kyle and Stan looked confused, “What do you mean?”

“I mean, with Lizzie’s help we could bring Alice back from the side of evil. We could bring her back.”

“Here we go again.” Stan muttered, “Kenny I know you feel guilty but you’re being stupid.”

“For one thing Alice doesn’t like any of us.” Wendy stated.

“Then there’s the fact that she’s dating Professor Chaos.” Kyle added.

“Then we have to account for the fact that rehabilitating an evil genius is not as easy as you think it might be.” Stan finished, “She’s already been making a name for herself with multiple Cyber Crimes against the SPPD, she’s been inventing weapons to use against us. She has her own minions! She won’t be that easy to turn.”

“That and aren’t they—GAH—living together?” Tweek asked, flinching. “To get to Alice we have to get past Professor Chaos, and he’s not going to back off without a fight.”

Kenny took in their words, his smile draining into a hardened glare, “I’m not giving up on Alice, and while we have her, we’re going to use Lizzie Baker in our favor.”

Tweek’s right eye twitched, “How’re we gonna—NNgh—do that?”

Kenny’s smile came back, sure of himself. “We’re going to bring Alice back to our side.”

Mouths opened but the bell to the door jingled suddenly, calling everyone’s attention to the sudden customer. The man standing at the door winced, adjusting his glasses. “This looks like a party.” He mused.

Stan and Wendy shut their gaping mouths and wandered back to their table, Kyle frowning while Kenny went back to what he was doing before. Tweek stared at the man, his mouth twitching. “H-Hey Renzo.” He greeted happily.

The man smiled kindly, “You know it’s just Ren, Tweek.” He brushed his black hair out of his blue-green eyes, ignoring Kyle as he passed the other. Kyle folded his arms, sighing. The ginger didn’t even know why Ren didn’t even like him, it was like Kyle could look at the other wrong and suddenly the guy hated the ground he walked on. He almost reminded Kyle of Cartman, though Ren never went after his faith.

Ren watched Tweek take meticulous care of the piece of paper in his hands, going so far as to put it inside of a book for protection. “Whatcha got there?” He questioned.

Tweek made a happy noise, grinning widely, “I got Lizzie Baker’s autograph!”

The name hit Ren like a lightning strike to the heart and the man suddenly blinked, confused. “How did you get Lizzie’s autograph? She’s in Europe.”

“Uh…” Tweek began to panic, “She—“

“She cancelled due to the death of her sister.” Kyle answered for him, and Ren had to keep himself from glaring at the other, because he was honestly confused. “She came down here to ask me some questions.”

Ren stared at Kyle, quirking a brow. “She…came to see _you_.” He looked dumbfounded at first, before glancing away.

“I didn’t know you liked Lizzie Baker!” Tweek exclaimed, smiling as he got Ren’s order ready, he was used to the man ordering the same thing, triple-espresso macchiato. “How long have you been listening to her?”

“Oh…I..consider myself to be her biggest fan.” Ren said softly, turning away from Kyle and back to Tweek. “She…Lizzie’s music means a lot to me.” He paused, sighing, “So she’s here to mourn the loss of her sister.” He smiled wanly at that, “It’s very touching.” After a moment of silence a smile overtook his eyes and he looked back at Kyle, “So, she’s asking you about her sister? What, did you two used to be _friends_? You and the famous Alice Horowitz, shocking.” He said friends in a sarcastic tone, quirking a grin.

Kyle wished he knew what was up with this guy, “Yes. Alice and I used to be very close.” He bit out, “Liz and I spent about two hours talking about her.”

“Oh, so it’s Liz.” The sunny disposition was dropped at the sound of the nickname, “I highly doubt that you’re going to get close to Lizzie Baker, I’ve heard that she’s very picky about who she associates with. I don’t think she’d like you.”

“For your information Liz and I get along fairly well, from what it sounds like you’re just jealous that she enjoys spending time with _me_.” Kyle smirked when Ren looked angry at the comment, the man finally looking away. “In fact I think I might just text her right now and plan for a dinner date.” Kyle couldn’t help but look smug at the other’s dumbfounded stare. Tweek too was staring widely at Kyle.

“You have her _number_?”

“You have Lizzie Baker’s number?” The two of them reacted differently, Tweek being astounded while Ren looked purely stunned.

Kyle couldn’t help but be petty right now, being around people that pissed him off did that to him. “Yes, after breakfast earlier today, she wanted me to keep in touch with her. It’s her personal phone.”

Then, Tweek was screaming, jumping in place in excitement. “I need to call Craig I need to call Craig!” He cried out, rushing to the back room. Ren only stood there, blindsided and blinking owlishly, unable to comprehend that Lizzie Baker was familiar with a man that didn’t deserve it.

Ren allowed the shock to wash over him before turning back to where Tweek once was, finding his coffee and pulling out his wallet to leave some money. He didn’t say anything before walking out with his coffee, glaring at Kyle all the while.

Kyle rolled his eyes and snorted in amusement as soon as the bell alerted him to Ren’s departure, pulling out his phone and smiling to himself.

Wendy was up immediately, onto him like a viper. “Please tell me you were just saying that to piss him off. You don’t really have her number, do you?”

Kyle smiled at her and turned his phone around, showing her the screen and the entry “Elizabeth Baker”.

“Oh.” Wendy took a step back, “She really did…”

“We get along really well.” Kyle said, glancing away from her and thinking about something, shaking his head after a moment. “I…I’m going to ask her to dinner.”

Wendy watched on as Kyle put the phone up to his ear and stepped out of the shop, turning her attention to Stan. Stan looked back at her, already knowing what she was thinking.

“Is it—“

“It can’t be.”

Kenny grinned, “Kyle’s got a crush.”

* * *

Once Renzo was home he let out an enraged scream, actively alerting three men in foil uniforms to his arrival. 34 stared at him blankly for a moment, looking at 56 and 69 before they shrugged, looking back at him. “Boss?”

The man reached up to pull the black wig from his head, exposing a nest of auburn locks. “I’m going to hurt someone.” The voice was higher now, and Lady Chaos glared at nothing in particular, storming towards the communal kitchen so she could remove the glasses and the contacts. She was halfway though with her contacts when Professor Chaos stepped inside, looking hurried.

“Lady?” He queried.

Lady Chaos stopped what she was doing, placing her hands on the surface of the counter and staring at him. “Kyle’s pissing me off.”

“Lady didn’t I tell you that going out among the citizens isn’t good for you?” Chaos moved closer to her, setting a hand over hers, “You run the risk of being made, and I don’t like that you still interact with them.”

“I’m not going to stop going to Tweek Bros.” Lady Chaos told him, “I like Tweek, and I like his coffee.”

“Yes, but we have _minions_ for that.” Chaos stressed, “They could go and get you your coffee without you having to leave the area.”

Lady Chaos looked like a child that was being lectured for doing something bad, folding her arms. “I like being social.” She mumbled, “But right now I just want to kill Kyle.”

“What did he do now?” Chaos sighed, moving to hug her from behind. Lady Chaos smiled from the embrace and leaned against him, feeling secure.

“Apparently my sister came to town…” She began, and Chaos paused.

“You mean, _her_?”

Lady nodded, “She’s come to see my grave and everything…and according to Kyle she went to him to ask about me.”

“I don’t see where you want to kill him.” Chaos commented.

Lady rolled her eyes, “They…she gave him her number.” She stopped, “Her private number. She never does that. She’s not someone who gives her contact information up willingly!” She broke away from Chaos and began to pace the kitchen. The three minions were still listening, keeping themselves hidden around the corner. “Either he tried something on her or he has a fucking serpent tongue because Liz doesn’t talk to anyone! I won’t accept that she and him are _close_.”

Chaos watched her pace, finally noticing the three minions and snapping his fingers, “Privacy, porfavor.” He watched them scatter, smiling after that. “I think you’re thinking too much into this.” He said then, following her.

“Oh, so what do you think happened instead of Kyle being a conniving asshole that he wants to seduce my sister?” She turned sharply to Chaos, “Because it looks like it to me.”

“Or maybe she gave Kyle her number so they could continue talking about you.” Chaos reasoned, chuckling. “If your sister is what you say she is, it was probably only for practical reasons.”

Lady stood there simmering in her own frustration, slowly coming down from her anger and finally pouting at him. “I wish you’d just let me live in my delusion so I can kill him.”

“Didn’t we learn by now that killing Kyle won’t work as long as Mysterion’s around?”

“Fucking asshole.” Lady murmured, because she tried multiple times to kill Kyle with or without him being the Human Kite, and Mysterion was always there to make sure it never happened. It was frustrating for her, so she settled on the Coon’s approach, to just be an asshole to him outside of the mask. No one so far has suspected Renzo Diaz to be anyone other than who he said he was, because Lady Chaos made sure to give him a perfect background check if anyone wanted to pry. Thankfully it was the start of the new semester, and Renzo just happened to be a Biochemistry major, just like Kyle.

It was easier to get back into SPU under a false identity, but this time being in college was under her terms. She wasn’t letting them get near her Genetic Identification Technology, not again.

Living as Lady Chaos was far more exciting than living as Alice Horowitz. Being on the battlefield was wonderful, being able to do whatever she wanted to do was exhilarating, being able to strike fear into the hearts of thousands was breathtaking. She never knew how much she was able to get away with just by being Lady Chaos. She even had a hand at helping Professor Chaos with his drugs, as she was good at chemistry as much as she was good with technology.

She was lost in her thoughts, not noticing that Professor Chaos had pulled her into another embrace, but reacting as she usually did, hooking her arms around his neck and leaning her head against his. They hardly needed words, relying on touch most of the time. Professor Chaos was in love with his Lady, and she couldn’t see herself with anyone else.

No one else was as perfect…

“Let’s do something.” Chaos said then, nothing but a whisper, “It’s been a while since there was some actual chaos around here.” His lips quirked up into a grin, catching his Lady’s attention. The woman smiled slowly and leaned in to kiss him, sighing against it when he leaned into the kiss.

“It’s a date.” She whispered.


	2. Welcome to the Masquerade

It was a significant difference, being on the battlefield versus being on the outside. Colors were bolder and everything was more vibrant. Those with masks knew who they were and what they were meant for while civilians were nothing but nameless faces.

The plan was a simple one, a hostile takeover of a bank. They didn’t need the money, they didn’t want the money. It was more for the databases on the inside, the lists of names that tied into civilians that lived in the city, their accounts and whatever else they had on file. They were searching for one single person. Though, it wouldn’t be right if they didn’t spend some time and create what they were known for.

It was broad daylight, the largest bank in the city was surrounded by minions. Inside the bank were ten or so civilians while outside the ring of minions were police vehicles, and outside of those were even more civilians, having come to watch the havoc. On the top of the bank was Professor Chaos, humming to himself and holding a walkie-talkie while Lady Chaos was on the inside, working on the databases. Normally it would have been a fifteen-minute job but they were fortified when it came to their cyber security.

“Jesus Christ.” Human Kite arrived on the scene, standing on a nearby roof while Toolshed and Mysterion came to stand at his side. “What are they even doing?” He questioned.

“This seems like more than just a bank robbery, they don’t even need the money.” Toolshed commented, “This looks more like a publicity stunt.”

“There’s other things than money inside those walls.” Mysterion said gruffly, “Note that it’s Chaos sitting on that roof, it means Lady Chaos is inside.”

“Lady Chaos knows how to hack into servers.” Human Kite nodded to himself, “She’s working on getting confidential information.”

“This isn’t a bank robbery at all.” Call Girl made her way over to them, “I just checked the perimeter, and Wonder Storm is down with the police. Super Guy is trying to find another way inside.”

“Lady Chaos can’t get that information, Friends, if she does then who knows what they’ll do with it.”

“I’m sure my Lady will have a perfect use for it.” Said an amplified voice, it caught all four of them and their attention snapped to the other roof, watching Professor Chaos standing there, grinning widely while holding a megaphone. “I would like to thank you for being so obvious about your position, especially when one of your own thinks he could get by undetected.”

Three minions came out once Chaos snapped his fingers, two of them holding a heavily-restrained Super Guy while the third one held a gun to his head.

“Super Guy!” Tool shed cried out, glaring at Chaos. “Let him go you asshole!”

“I don’t think so.” Chaos smiled, “This gives me incentive that you won’t interfere with my plans. MINIONS!”

At the call about six minions burst onto the other roof from the emergency exit, some holding chains while others had brass knuckles. One in particular, was holding something special…

“The Cybernetic Pulse Glove.” Human Kite said sourly, glaring at the one minion, 24. He glanced around, realizing that the roof wasn’t too small, though large enough for a battle. “So, we’re doing this here, are we?”

“It seems like it.” 24 flexed his hand, the Pulse Bomb forming in his palm.

“Don’t let that thing touch you!” Mysterion shouted, “She’s made adjustments to it, direct contact will burn you.”

“How do you know that?” Toolshed’s voice cracked in his shock, but Mysterion didn’t turn to him, his eyes still on the Pulse Bomb.

“Trust me!” Mysterion shouted. “Don’t allow that to touch you!”

Toolshed cried out when the bomb was suddenly sent his way, dodging it barely while Human Kite leapt into the sky to use his eye lasers on the attacker. 24 dodged them, scowling and sending another pulse bomb towards the other, aiming right for him.

“Keep him occupied!” Toolshed shouted, taking on two of the minions while Mysterion had his hand on two more, and Call Girl pitted up against the last. The minions fought dirty, as they always did, ganging up to group against all three of them. Mysterion didn’t like this at all, because the minions were only here to occupy and distract them from stopping _her_. He needed to find a way to get out of this, because he knew what could happen if they got their information on those sensitive files.

While the four of them were fighting the minions, Super Guy was trying to get out of his restraints, glaring scathingly at Chaos. “You do know that my boyfriend will fuck you up do you?” He questioned, “Because unlike me he has elemental powers.”

“I’m not really afraid of Wonder Storm,” Chaos smiled cooly, “Besides, you’re just a ruse, to keep them from attacking. To keep,” He gestured to the cops down below, “ _them_ from attacking.”

“You and Alice deserve each other,” Super Guy bit out, making Chaos chuckle.

“Thank you.”

On the inside of the bank the hostages were all cowered in the safe, having been tied up and gagged for their own safety. Two minions were guarding the doors though Wonder Storm had found an open window to shimmy though, finding himself in a random room with no-one inside of it. He kept himself quiet, stepping on light footfalls while keeping his ears tuned into his surroundings. It was quiet in the bank, almost too quiet. All the hostages must be locked away somewhere, and that meant Lady Chaos was on her own.

Wonder Storm made his way to the door, poking his head out after crouching and spotting a couple of minions standing a few feet away. Their backs were to him, and he looked towards the hall. He needed to find her, but he did not know where. If he froze one of the minions, the other would alert the rest of them to where he was. If he froze them both, he wouldn’t get any answers, and leave evidence of him being there. His only choice was to sneak by and hope they didn’t hear him.

One foot in front of the other, slow and silent. Wonder Storm made his way across the hall, keeping his eyes on the two in the main lobby until he was out of their sight. He breathed a sigh of relief, albeit a quiet one. Now to find where Lady Chaos was. The first room was empty, no one was there at all. He checked everything, frowning.

Then,

“God damnit!”

Lady Chaos’s voice boomed from down the hall and Wonder Storm hid behind a door as the two minions from before hurried to her, going the way he went.

“What is it?” One of them asked.

“The fucking cyber-security, you would think to run into this kind of thing in a place like Denver or Los Angeles, but no, they had to use the most secure shit in South Park.”

“So…how long will it take?”

“Give me fifteen more minutes, I’m just going to use my Heartbreaker virus as a last resort.”

Wonder Storm kept still as he heard the two minions go back the way they came from, leaving the security of behind the door and glancing down to where they left. She was in that room.

He snuck back out of the room and made his way down the hallway, staying still once he revealed himself.

Lady Chaos was too busy to notice him at first, until he cleared his throat. She finally looked up from the screen, staring at Wonder Storm for a moment before smirking. “Are you the only one here?” She mused.

Wonder Storm shook his head, “I’m not alone, but I don’t want to leave without you. Alice…”

“Lady Chaos.” She corrected.

“Alice please,”

“Tweek, please.” Lady Chaos said then, glaring at him slightly.

Wonder Storm’s eye twitched and he nodded, “R-Right, Lady…”

“The only reason that I’m not attacking you right now is that I never held ill will towards you.” Lady Chaos continued, “However you came in here, go back out the same way.”

Wonder Storm glanced out the door, nearly moving towards it but stopping himself. He shook his head, “I still believe in you, okay? You’re not as evil as you want everyone to think, and not attacking me just proves it.”

Lady Chaos didn’t answer that, staying silent and looking back down at her work. Her program needed more time. “You don’t know what I am, Storm.” She mumbled to herself.

“Yes I do.” Wonder Storm gestured outside, “You’re that girl that loves white-chocolate mochas and often comes in to greet me, the same girl that I never became nervous around. You were nice to me right away, even in high school.” He smiled, “You never treated me like a freak because of my paranoia and anxiety, you defended me when people called me names. You were—are—my friend, and you always will be.”

Lady Chaos shied her eyes away from him, glancing out the window to the activity across the street. “Tweek—“

A sudden tune stopped the conversation, the sound of a violin entering their ears. Lady Chaos’s head perked up, confused. “What—“

Outside, Chaos and Super Guy had heard the same sound, looking around. “What’s that?” Super Guy asked.

“Why is it so loud?” Chaos looked along the crowd of onlookers, finding that they too were looking around for the sound.

The violin music was slow at first, and Human Kite was in mid-air when he heard it, his ears directing his eyes to the taller building beside them, a lone figure standing on the spire. When the violin music began to increase in tempo Kite’s eyes widened.

There was a sudden cry, and the minions were shocked, finding that they couldn’t control themselves anymore, beginning to fight each other. “What’s going on?” 24 cried out.

Mysterion and the rest had stopped, his attention falling onto a sudden cry as Chaos was now trying to fend off his own minions, who had released Super Guy and began to fight him.

“What in the hell is this?” Chaos cried out. “Minions!”

“We can’t control it Boss!” 56 shouted, throwing a punch.

69 looked alarmed, “What’s happening?”

The violin music began to continue, the violent intensity of the song being heard from all around. Human Kite was still in the air, transfixed on the sound, his eyes on the lone figure on the spire.

It was a striking sight, a woman wearing a black form-fitting leotard with a gray pinstriped vest and a gray skirt over the top of it, long black stockings, long black gloves, short black boots, and a white half-mask that covered the woman’s right side. Behind her, flowing, was a cape, following the wind that carried her music. It was coming from a skeletal and silvery electric violin.

Human Kite couldn’t help but recognize the music. No, he _knew_ this music.

“Why are we doing this?” Screamed out 69, compelled by the music itself.

“It’s the music! Over there!” 12 directed Professor Chaos over to the spire, the mysterious woman that was watching them as she played.

Professor Chaos glowered up at her, “A superhero with this sort of power needs to be stopped.” He quickly took his leave, and Super Guy’s head snapped downward, realizing that someone was missing, “Wonder Storm!”

Inside the bank’s walls Lady Chaos was doing her best to stop the minions from attacking her, “What do you mean you can’t control it?” She cried out, dodging the minion holding the battle staff, jumping when he tried to low-sweep her.

“We can’t control anything!” 02 cried out.

“It’s the music!” 15 told her, “It has to be!”

Lady Chaos cried out when she was slammed into, “Help me!” She pleaded to Wonder Storm, who was watching, stunned on what was happening. He yelped when she called out to him, unsure of what to do.

“Wonder Storm!” Super Guy found his way to his boyfriend quickly, taking hold of his arm. “We need to go, something is—“

“I can’t leave!” Wonder Storm shrieked, “She needs our help!”

It was when 02 whipped out a knife that Lady Chaos looked absolutely horrified, “02—“

“It’s not me!” 02 was starting to tear up, and he lunged at her, trying to stab her.

Lady Chaos ducked away just in time, “Tweek!” She cried.

Wonder Storm grit his teeth, turning to Super Guy, “Help me.” He said before hurrying to restrain one of the minions, using his abilities to freeze one of them.

Super Guy only stood there, groaning and rolling his eyes over the entire ordeal before moving forward to help him, effortlessly slamming his fist into the one with the knife, knocking him out completely. Lady Chaos calmed down once that happened, looking devastated at the sight of her own minions this way. She knelt down and pulled the knife away from 02’s hand, moving to pet his head. “It’ll be okay.” She murmured, finally listening to the music playing overhead. It struck a familiar chord with her, and she glanced upward, “It can’t be…”

Back outside Human Kite was still in the air, overlooking how the minions were still fighting each other while Mysterion and the others only watched. Their eyes went back to the mysterious superhero.

Across from them Chaos had the blast gun strapped to his back, making his way to the nearest roof. His eyes were on the superhero who was effectively wreaking havoc over his men. He didn’t like it, he didn’t agree with it. He wanted her gone, lest this happen again. He managed to get onto the roof, bringing out the blast gun and activating it. He kept his eyes on the superhero, aiming right for her.

“Kite!” Mysterion shouted, having seen Chaos start up the blast gun. Human Kite followed Mysterion’s gaze and his blood ran cold at the sight of the blast gun, the very object that had tried to kill him the first time.

“No!” Human Kite took a dive for the woman as soon as Chaos fired off an energy shot, there was no possible way to stop the shot itself so he went as fast as possible, diving in and grabbing the woman, her music cutting short as soon as she was grabbed. Human Kite hurled themselves out of the way a second before the energy blast took away the spire itself.

The mysterious woman cried out, but Human Kite didn’t pay her any mind, finding them another rooftop to land on. He set her down gently, landing next to her. Now that he was close he could see her features more clearly, a woman with dazzling green eyes and shoulder-length brown locks, the woman staring back at him in guarded hesitation.

Kite couldn’t help himself, “Liz…?”

The woman inhaled sharply at the name, tearing her eyes away, “I think the name you’re looking for is Masquerade.”

Kite smiled slowly.

The minions were out of their trance, panicking immediately. “Retreat!” 69 told the rest of them, and those that were previously fighting the superheroes had fled as fast as possible, or at least, they tried…

Toolshed quickly caught ahold of one of them, the one with the Cybernetic Pulse Glove. “Nuh-uh, you’re staying here.” He said to 24 before hitting him over the head with his power drill. The man fell like a sack of potatoes after that.

Mysterion cast his eyes across the way to watch Chaos as he packed up the gun and hurried off, the man whistling sharply and calling attention to the minions that were in earshot.

“We’re leaving now!” He commanded.

From the inside Lady Chaos had heard the whistle, and she checked the computer again, which hadn’t gotten anywhere close to cracking the security, she sighed out in frustration and hurried to shake 02 back to consciousness. She looked over at both Wonder Storm and Super Guy, “You should leave now before anyone sees you.”

Wonder Storm hesitated, “Please, can you at least think about what I said?”

Super Guy pulled on his boyfriend’s arm, “Storm we need to go.”

“Not until I get an answer!” Wonder Storm cried out.

Lady Chaos couldn’t bring herself to look at him, at her former friend, she pursed her lips, beginning to hear footsteps. “Leave out the window, I don’t want you killed.”

Super Guy was right on it, hurrying over to the closest window and dragging Wonder Storm with him, the blond put up a fight but eventually gave in, giving Lady Chaos one last glance.

“I mean it, Alice.” He said before leaving, and Lady Chaos shut her eyes, sighing.

“We need to leave right away.” Professor Chaos came in just as they left, seeing his fallen minions. “What on Earth happened here?”

“They got carried away and started attacking me.” Lady explained, slapping 02 awake. “It was the violin music, wasn’t it?”

Chaos clenched his teeth, “I don’t fucking agree with such a debilitating weapon, whoever that woman was, she won’t last long if she continues to interfere with our plans.”

02 finally stood up and helped Lady Chaos with 15. Chaos went over to the computer while they worked on reviving him, noting that the program wasn’t over with. “You still didn’t get in.”

“I haven’t figured out how to crack into this security system.” She explained, “Usually they leave a back door, this one doesn’t have any.”

“Leave it, we’ll get our information another way.” Chaos snapped his fingers once 15 was revived, catching his and 02’s attention, “We’re leaving.”

The two of them yelped and hurried out to join the others.

Lady Chaos took out a USB drive from her pocket and stuck it into the computer, typing in a command, “If I can’t get what I want then no one can access it.” She smiled coyly, watching as the screen turned pink.

“Heartbreaker Virus, that’ll incapacitate them.” Chaos pulled her into an embrace and gave her a quick kiss, “Let’s go.”

The two of them made their way out, flanked by their minions, the lot of them using smoke bombs to disperse without anyone watching, and Mysterion had watched as they all had left before the smoke had cleared. He sighed, looking over at Call Girl, “Let’s go down there and help free the hostages.” He said then.

“I still don’t know why they were there.” Call Girl was confused, “What were they doing?”

“Something they couldn’t accomplish.” Toolshed said then, “Because that woman that appeared and wreaked havoc.”

“Her name is Masquerade.” Human Kite said as he flew back to them, stopping them from leaving. Toolshed stared at his friend.

“That’s what she’s called?”

“Is she a civilian playing dress-up?” Call Girl asked cautiously.

“She can’t be if she has such a debilitating instrument, didn’t you see, it was like the music was controlling them! No civilian can do that.”

“Alice was a civilian.” Call Girl countered.

“All the more reason to take this Masquerade seriously.” Mysterion told them, “In the end she helped us, let’s go.”

Across the rooftops stood the mysterious masked woman, replaying what had happened in her head as she tuned her violin. She had a feeling, a strong feeling, that she knew Human Kite.

“Kyle, you’re a superhero…” She murmured quietly, smiling.

“We have more in common than I thought.”

* * *

The discovery that the new superhero, Masquerade, was actually Lizzie Baker under a mask, had Kyle reeling. He didn’t know where to start. How long has she been doing this? Was this a spur of the moment thing or has she been established? He needed to find out, so he went on a search. He didn’t expect what he found, worldwide sightings of a mysterious superhero in black playing a violin to stop villains or to make them attack each other. Masquerade was widely known in France, Italy, Northern Europe, Germany, Asia. If Kyle correlated the sightings of Masquerade to Lizzie Baker’s tour schedules through the years then he would find that the results matched, that both the sightings and appearances were correlated with each other. They weren’t dealing with a civilian that decided to get a costume and a weapon on a whim, they were dealing with a super-hero that had around three years of history to her name.

Kyle didn’t tell anyone what he knew, not yet. He was too preoccupied with his own shock. Elizabeth Baker was a superhero, but if he looked at his calendar then she should have been on a plane two days ago, returning to her mother’s home in Montana. Why didn’t she leave, and why did she appear before them all to lend a helping hand.

Before he could gather the willpower to message her and ask to meet up, Elizabeth had beaten him to it, sending him a message about a private discussion. He swallowed thickly, wondering if this had to be related to yesterday. Not that she could tell it was him…could she? No, it couldn’t be, it had to be because she wanted to talk about her sister. That had to be it, right? He replied immediately, offering his apartment as a meet-up place, because she already knew where he lived and Stan wasn’t going to be there at the time he suggested. The last thing he wanted to do was make her uncomfortable.

Though, he didn’t expect that waiting for her to arrive would wrack him with such anxiety. He began to pace the living room, trying to think of how the conversation was going to go. It was only about her sister, that’s the only reason why she was coming here. Elizabeth only wanted to know more about her sister.

When there was a knock on the door he jumped, yelping out a tiny sound before running his fingers through his hair, trying to get himself situated and heading to the door. Nerves and anxiousness were wreaking havoc on his body and when he opened the door he was graced with such a beautiful sight. Wait…beautiful? No. What?

Elizabeth was wearing a dress, her hair down instead of up. It framed her face well and it was the first time he had seen her without a bun. He felt his heart pound and he wondered why, stepping aside to let her in. Once he shut the door he steeled himself, “I thought…you were going to Montana.”

“I had a change of heart.” Elizabeth said, “My mother and I had a lovely Skype call the other day, and she told me to take some time to myself instead of taking only two weeks to grieve.” She made her way to the couch, sitting down and crossing her legs. “I decided to spend my time here, because I wanted to see why my sister loved South Park so much…my stay will be longer.”

Kyle sat down beside her, “Oh.” He looked away, frowning, “South Park…it’s a great place, but…”

“It’s a growing city.” Elizabeth offered, “I can understand that. I only lived in small mountain towns myself, one in Arizona and another in Montana, everyone knew everyone.”

“That actually used to be South Park.” Kyle quirked his lips up into a smile, “We used to be a small mountain town, but some people decided to invest into it, created the University and some bigger buildings, and suddenly it wasn’t small anymore. Sometimes I miss how small it used to be, because with a city comes crime.”

“And with crime comes villains.” Elizabeth said knowingly, catching his shocked eyes. She only smiled, “I’m aware of the life of superheroes and supervillains, I’ve seen them in my travels.” She looked down at her lap, settling her hands on her knee, “Speaking of, I’ve been wanting to thank you.”

Kyle’s breath became short, “Thank me for what?”

Elizabeth looked at him again, “Saving me from that villain.” She said it simply enough, Kyle had to stare at her, processing what she had just said at least three times on repeat before pulling himself back to the present.

“H-how did you know it was me?” Kyle asked then, in a hushed voice.

“No one else knows me here, Kyle.” Elizabeth said calmly, studying his face. “At least, those who know me well enough call me Liz, like you do.” She slowly smirked when he looked taken aback, realizing where he went wrong and just how he outed himself. He took that in, thinking before the real topic seemed to be playing on his mind.

“I didn’t know you were a superhero.” Kyle said, “I had to do a search for you, for Masquerade.”

Elizabeth chuckled softly, “I lend a hand when needed.”

“You’re famous on the forums, you and your violin…how—how do you control people with it? How did you get that?”

“My sister isn’t the only talented engineer in the family.” She said smoothly, smirking. “That violin has been a work in progress for at least five years before I brought it out to test… you see, it works with frequencies and the human brain. Depending on how I adjust it, I can effect villains or heroes.”

“And you effected villains.” Kyle looked relieved, because she could be a supervillain so easily but she chose not to be. “Holy shit, Liz, you really don’t know how much you helped us.”

“I’m glad that I’m appreciated, usually superheroes don’t welcome newcomers so easily. I had my fare share of unwelcoming behavior from others.” She settled one elbow on the couch arm, leaning back slightly and watching him, “You’re able to fly, and if I’m correct your eyes shoot lasers.”

Kyle blushed before he could look away, reaching up to scratch his head, “Y-yeah…I’m called the Human Kite. I’m not really from this planet, I was taken in when I was just a baby… it’s kinda hard _not_ to become a superhero when I could do so much good in the world.”

“You do, according to the forums.” Elizabeth smiled when Kyle looked at her bewilderedly, “You’re not the only one who did research.” She mused.

Kyle’s earlier anxiety was creeping up his skin and he couldn’t understand why he was feeling like this, he never met anyone who warranted such a reaction and here he was, trying not to do or say anything stupid, and feeling like he might do it all the same. _Affection_.“H…How long are you staying?” He asked quietly, afraid to look at her.

Elizabeth hid her emotions well and glanced away herself, “I’m not sure yet…I never had a proper moment to myself before. I’m either touring or always preparing for a show… I’ve been doing this for a while, and once the reporters realize where I am I know they’re going to start hounding me.”

That had him confused, “Yeah that’s something I never noticed, you’re walking around without paparazzi.”

She smiled slightly, “I may have told them I was going to Montana to begin with, give them a few days.”

Kyle nodded, his heart pounding still but this time it was in his ears. “Oh…” He looked down at his hands, trying to keep them steady, “How do you do it?” He asked then, “Someone as famous as you are, how do you manage to hide your identity?”

Elizabeth seemed to be unaffected, but looks were always deceiving. “I’m very careful.” She said honestly, “So far no one has found out who I really am…but you.”

Kyle looked back at her, catching how her cheeks were also flushed and how she looked away quickly. He was intelligent enough to notice detail, and it was obvious that she was feeling what he was. Suddenly, there was a nagging thought in his head, and he then turned to face her, practically forcing himself to say what the thought wanted him to say.

“Would you like to…go on a real date?” He asked quietly, watching her freeze up before it was wiped away just as quickly. Kyle smiled, feeling less nervous. “If you’re planning to stay longer then I wouldn’t mind getting to know you better.”

Elizabeth opened her mouth and closed it, catching his eyes and just how green they were. The color was unlike hers, brighter and more vibrant. She couldn’t look away from those eyes, her own nerves hitting her like a sledgehammer to the chest.

“I—I—yes.” She took a steady breath, “Yes, I would.”

Relief washed over him and he couldn’t feel any more happy.

* * *

The minion was being held at the Freedom Pals’ base, the man having been thrown into a cell and watched over. The idea was to get answers. They wanted to know why Lord and Lady Chaos wanted to get a hold of confidential documents on everyone using the bank. So far, no one had gotten anything out of 24, which what he still called himself, refusing to give out a real name as well as valuable answers to their questions. He was stubborn.

Mysterion was the only one who didn’t try yet, neither had Doctor Timothy. Both of them were put to task in getting him to talk, or at least Doctor Timothy would get the answers out the easy way. They still wanted to give him a choice despite being a grunt for Chaos. When they stepped into the cell room 24 was sitting on his chair, waiting patiently, as if he thought that Chaos would come and break him free any minute now.

“You’re quiet.” Mysterion spoke first, “Normally villains put up more of a fuss.”

_“He’s not a villain, Mysterion, just a hired hand.”_ Professor Timothy corrected him, going over to the man. _“We’re giving you one last chance to willingly give us information before I allow myself to peruse your mind, you have been warned.”_

24 glared at both of them, “My Boss will be here any second now.”

“You’re still under the delusion that Chaos gives a damn about you.” Mysterion folded his arms, “You, something called a minion, given only a number and no other identity.”

The man looked offended, “Professor Chaos cares about us more than you think you piece of shit. He’s given me a home and a job, I’m not a minion in his eyes I’m a valued employee.”

“Employees have names.” Mysterion countered, “What number are you again? 42?”

“24.” The minion ground out, “I’m a higher rank than the rest of them. I was entrusted with the Cybernetic Pulse Glove for a reason.”

_“Yes, that contraption.”_ Doctor Timothy looked away, _“We have that thing in our containment chambers, our main researchers are dissecting the technology as we speak.”_

“Taking apart our Lady’s weapons is sacrilege!” 24 cried out, “She gave me that as a present!”

“Oh what, did you clean your room and mommy gave you a thank-you gift?” Mysterion sniped, “All we want is one answer, kid, if you give us what we need we’ll let you go. If you don’t give it to us we will forcefully take it from you and hand you over to the SPPD.” The superhero held up two fingers, “One choice or the other, do you want to go back to your beloved Chaos or end up in a prison cell? I can assure you that their cells are not as comfortable as ours.”

24 glared scathingly at Mysterion, “Making me spill the beans on my Boss and letting me go? I might as well kill myself right now. Chaos doesn’t take kindly to snitches.”

“I thought your Boss cares about you ‘more than we think’.”

“He does, you sack of garbage.” 24 bit out, “If you’re loyal to Chaos he will treat you as one of his family, he will take care of your needs and make sure you’re happy. But we know better, the moment one of us betrays him in any way shape or form he will kill us without remorse. He doesn’t believe in killing people or frightening others to get his way, but it doesn’t mean he’s a pushover. He’s a supervillain for a reason.”

Mysterion nodded, “Sounds about right…” He knew all that kindness was a dupe, he has dealt with Chaos far too many times to consider him anything but a good villain. “All we want to know is what Lady Chaos was trying to look for in that bank. That’s all we want.”

“Betraying Chaos is one thing, but betraying our Lady is another.”

The hero quirked his head to the side, curious. “What do you mean by that?”

“Lady hates liars.” 24 said quietly, “She hates people who deceive her, and I’ve seen it with my own two eyes, deceiving her gets us a far worse sentence.”

Mysterion’s heart hammered, “Are you saying she’s killed someone?”

24 shook his head, “No, it’s an unwritten rule for every one of us, treat Lady with respect and be honest with her, because Boss will make sure you regret ever doing so. It’s much worse than death, in my opinion.”

“How…so?” The masked hero felt compelled to know. What was worse than being killed?

“They get to be test subjects for his new drugs.” The man said simply, “He’s always experimenting on new drugs…”

The superheroes knew exactly what those drugs were. The street term of it was Candy, a drug that got the person high with twice the addiction, yet less of a mortality rate of other drugs. One would think that it was a kinder and safer alternative to the more dangerous drugs out there, but Mysterion had personally seen it himself what Candy does to people. Recovery from the drug was the hardest thing to kick, and no one could really stop using it. Once it was in their system, they wouldn’t be happy until they had more, and more, and more, some going so far as to render themselves homeless because they pawned away everything they had to get it. Those who couldn’t afford it became criminals to get it, making the crime rate even higher than it should be. Candy had hit him personally, and he hated Chaos because of it.

A cold chill went up Mysterion’s spine and he realized just then who Alice was dealing with, a cold and manipulative mastermind who would do just about anything to make sure Alice continued to stay his. He didn’t like that, not one bit. He was the biggest reason she was a villain, and if he had known who Chaos was behind the mask he probably had a way to stop this from ever happening. But no, no one ever suspected Butters Stotch, because no one would ever think that such a kind and caring boy would ever be Colorado’s cruelest supervillain.

He didn’t know just how long he had his sights on Alice.

_“How about this, then?”_ Doctor Timothy wheeled himself closer to the cell, _“If you give us all the information we need, we will make sure to put you into witness relocation. No one can get you if you mysteriously disappear, and you will get to live to see another day.”_

The offer had 24 thinking hard, weighing the pros and cons, “And if I don’t, I go to prison.”

_“The safer alternative is being handed right to you, I suggest you take it. I believe Chaos has men in prison, and what they may do to you might be worse than the alternative.”_

The mention of imprisoned minions had 24 shaking slightly, and he decided that he actually wanted to live. The relocation sounded like a safer bet, because Chaos wouldn’t be able to find him under an assumed name, right? No, of course not. “What do you want to know?” He asked then, sounding nervous.

“I just want to know why they were both at the bank.” Mysterion began, “They have enough money, what did they want?”

“Information.” 24 answered quickly, “They’re looking for a single person…they’re looking for you, actually.”

Mysterion blinked, “Me?”

He nodded, “Your counter-identity. They know who almost everyone is but you, because you’re the biggest problem they have.”

Mysterion didn’t think he would be hearing that, the fact that they were trying to find him outside of the mask was harder than it seemed, since Mysterion was meticulous and careful about his identity. No one knew who he was, other than five certain people.

“Why do they want to know who I am?” He asked then, “What will it do?”

“I don’t know, Chaos just thinks you need to be taken care of, and that there should be a permanent solution.”

It was surprising how much he knew, “They’re going to have a hard time achieving anything.” He muttered, “We have our answer—“

_“Wait—“_ Doctor Timothy spoke up suddenly, looking right at 24, _“I have my own question. Tell me, are either of the two working under counter-identities? We are aware that legally they’re dead, but are they living as someone else?”_

Slowly 24 became more nervous, “I—oh you only said you wanted to know one thing. I think I already gave you the answer.” He stood up, “I’m not answering anything else—“

“Doctor.” Mysterion spoke up but Doctor Timothy was faster, pressing his fingers to his temple and staring 24 straight in the eyes. The minion cried out and tore his eyes away.

“That’s not part of the deal!” The minion screamed, “You only said one question and then you fucking mind raped me!”

Mysterion winced at the screaming, following Doctor Timothy out when the other began to leave.

_“He’s fulfilled our request, I will make arrangements with the FBI to relocate him to another state.”_ The Doctor said once they left the area, _“He won’t get a cushy life but he will get to live.”_

Mysterion nodded, his mind on what the Doctor did to the minion, “What did you find?”

Doctor Timothy wheeled around, _“Keep yourself alert, Mysterion, it seems that only one of them are out and about, our very own Alice is under a new identity.”_

“I thought so, she’s never one for isolating herself.” The superhero smiled slightly, “What name is she going under?”

_“Does Renzo Diaz ring a bell?”_ He questioned.

Mysterion took a second to think about the name, his eyes widening in realization before he began to grin. “Actually, it rings plenty of bells, Doctor.”


	3. The Boy With the Burrito

Renzo made his way out of the Science building, his head in a book while he looked over the assignment. He smiled slightly and closed the book, sure that he could get it done in a couple of hours. Chemistry was easy to a genius, and having done the course once before made it even easier. The only thing he didn’t enjoy was that he didn’t have a cute little study buddy for the class, because his boyfriend didn’t want to associate with the outside world. He couldn’t hold any fault, because with what he did he didn’t have enough time to deal with the things that Ren was dealing with, using all of his free time into his business. For Ren, however, he wouldn’t handle isolating himself and just working on inventions all day, he thrived around people, and he wanted to know how it felt to be a regular person and not someone with so much attached to his name. Alice Horowitz and Renzo Diaz were two completely different people, and Ren enjoyed being out of the spotlight for once. The only problem was that he couldn’t have gone after his former major in Electrical Engineering, but he figured he knew enough already that he could allow himself to branch out in his portfolio. Besides, going for Electrical Engineering would be like holding a sign as to who you were once before.

Ren hurried down to the cafeteria, feeling hungry and wanting something to eat, knowing that the college made excellent breakfast wraps the size of his head. His stomach growled just thinking about it, and he grinned widely, making his way forward to order.

There was already a few students there, nameless faces of civilians that Ren knew slightly but didn’t care enough to go further. He ordered what he wanted and paid for his meal, stepping away to look for a free table. The cafeteria was open to the public, not just the students at the college, so it wasn’t abnormal to see non-students sitting around eating lunches, though a sea of blonde hair caught his eye, the lone man sitting at a singular table drumming his fingers against the surface, his chin in his hands as his blue eyes scanned the area.

Ren’s order was called before he could have a wandering thought. He went to retrieve his order, coming back out and finding that Kenny was still sitting there, staring at nothing in particular, but waiting. Kenny was the only civilian that Ren didn’t mind talking to, he seemed like a nice enough guy but there was something about him that made Ren want to befriend him, and despite talking every now and then, they had yet to have a full-on conversation. He snorted in amusement, wondering if it was something about blonde boys. His boyfriend, Tweek, and now Kenny McCormick.

Kenny’s eyes soon fell onto Ren’s presence, and the blonde pulled on a charming smile and waved at him. Ren looked taken aback, looking around before realizing it was directed towards him. He decided to move forward, taking a seat across from him.

“You’re not a student here.” He said amusedly, setting down his food.

“Doesn’t mean I can’t people watch.” Kenny quipped, “I’m waiting for someone, actually.”

“Oh, then maybe I should—“ Ren began to stand but Kenny shook his head.

“No, no, stay, I like the company. My friend won’t be here soon, I came a bit early.”

Ren settled into his seat and nodded, putting his bag to the side. “I don’t usually see you outside of Tweek Bros.” He said then, grasping one half of the burrito.

“I know I work a lot but I need some time to breathe, it’s not good for me to work constantly.” Kenny told him, his eyes falling to the breakfast wrap in Ren’s hands while he cursed himself for not eating before this little decision to come here.

Ren chewed thoughtfully for a moment and swallowed, catching Kenny’s lingering stare on his food. An overwhelming feeling of guilt settled over him and he set his half down, moving to tear the paper plate it was on in half and shoving the untouched half towards Kenny. “Eat, you look like a sad puppy.”

Kenny didn’t expect that, smiling slightly at Ren, “T-thanks.” He looked famished, hurrying to take a bite out of it to lay claim to the food.

“Is there a reason you work a lot?” Ren asked, honestly curious. “Because I tend to find you there no matter when I stop by.”

Kenny sighed as he chewed on his food, wondering just where to take this. He felt like he had a chance, swallowing his food before setting the burrito down. “I’m working to pay hospital bills.”

Ren winced, “Oh,” Hospital bills, that sounded harsh in itself, “What happened?”

Kenny looked away, “My sister is in the hospital, being treated for drug addiction.” He didn’t look too happy about it, and Ren suddenly regret asking. Though, the mention of drugs had him curious.

“Uh…how old is your sister?”

“She’s supposed to be still in high school.” Kenny said then, “It wasn’t even intentional, she was at a party and someone offered her something, telling her it was candy…”

Ren froze, a wave of cold washing over him, “C-candy?”

“That’s the name for the drug, Candy.” Kenny looked like he was punched in the gut. “She didn’t know, it even looked like candy, and she had one and that was it, she wanted more.”

“I heard about that drug…” Ren mumbled, “It’s said to be highly addictive.”

“It is, and my sister and I had already lost our parents to harsher drugs, but this just…” He couldn’t talk about it anymore, trailing off and going back to eating, although his appetite was dwindling. “Sorry.”

“No, no, don’t be sorry, I’m the one who asked.” Ren’s guilt was back, but it was for another reason entirely. He did not take into account that the drug his boyfriend took so long into perfecting would affect children, never considering that possibility to ever arise. She suddenly felt stupid, because of course children would try to get some. Drug use was rampant among teens, and her boyfriend insisted that it wasn’t as bad as crack or meth, that it was safer than any of it.

Knowing that a person he knew was affected personally because of it seemed to hit him more than a stranger would.

“I hope things go well for her.” Ren said honestly, suddenly not feeling hungry. “Let’s…change the subject, “How long have you lived in South Park?”

Kenny appreciated the change in subject, hoping that what he said would have some impact on the other. “Well, I used to live in North Park before North Park and South Park combined themselves, I guess around…two?”

So he was originally from North Park, it explains why Ren didn’t know him before now. He seemed pretty nice for a person he just barely met months ago, but then, perhaps it was a good thing, that he didn’t know Alice while she was in high school. He didn’t know Alice Horowitz at all.

“What about you?” Kenny asked then, “You just popped up out of nowhere.”

A sigh fell from Ren’s lips and he quirked up a small smile, “I’m from New Mexico, I came here because I wanted to try out a colder climate than the one I was in. I really hate the heat.”

“Well you really picked the coldest place in Colorado.” Kenny mused, his appetite was returning so he went back to eating.

The small talk lasted for around twenty minutes, growing longer and longer until they began having a full-on conversation that lasted about two hours. Ren had lost track of time by then, enjoying talking to Kenny more than he had thought he would while they began talking about anything and everything. Kenny found himself enjoying the conversation as well, not having had anyone to talk to outside of work or his real job, and he wished that he knew Alice before any of this happened, because he knew that perhaps things would have gone differently for her…for both of them.

The spell was broken by the sound of a ring tone, and Ren suddenly realized what time it was. He brought his phone out and held it to his ear, “Hey. … I was? Oh, sorry, I lost track of time! …Oh nothing, nothing, I’m talking with a friend. … Yes, a friend, is that okay _mom_?”

Kenny chuckled, knowing full well that was Chaos on the other line, he watched as Ren nodded and listened, “Alright, I’m coming home, see you soon.”

“Sounds like your mom has you on a tight leash.” Kenny commented airily.

“It’s not as tight as you think, she’s just…overprotective.” Ren didn’t correct him, rolling with the answer, “I have to go.” He began to gather his things, getting up from the table.

Kenny checked his watch and sighed, “I should go too, I have to work soon.”

“I thought you said this was your day off.” Ren quirked a brow, tilting his head curiously.

“It’s my second job.” Kenny said smoothly, “It’s mostly a night job.”

That sounded logical enough and Ren nodded, looking at his phone again, “I can’t believe I skipped my last two classes.” He sounded shocked.

“I think it was worth it, you seemed…more relaxed and animated than how I usually see you.” Kenny smiled at him, “Do you want me to drive you home or—“

“No.” Ren said quickly, “I have a car.” He pulled on a wide smile, “I’m happy we had this time together, Kenny. Remind me to do it again.” He honestly enjoyed the two hours of conversation, finding Kenny witty and engaging.

“Alright,” The blonde winked at him, pulling out the finger guns, “I’ll catch you—“

Before Kenny could turn Ren held up a hand, “H-how about we exchange numbers? That way we can plan for it instead of looking for each other.” He bit his lip, excited about making a friend outside of his work, a true and honest friend that didn’t want him for the fame his former name had brought him.

Kenny smiled sincerely and nodded, pulling out his phone, “Tell me yours and I’ll shoot you a text.”

Ren relayed his number, soon taking notice that the cafeteria was nearly empty at this time. He felt a blush creep up his neck. Did he really lose track of time that much?

When the two finally parted ways and Ren headed to his car, he sat inside, sighing quietly and leaning his head back against the seat.

“So this is how it feels to make a real friend.” He whispered to himself, feeling warm and elated.

* * *

Mysterion walked into the Freedom Pals’ base with a grin on his face, gathering Tupperware and Fastpass’s attention.

“You look h-ha-haa-haaa—joyful.” Fastpass commented in amusement.

“Dude, you look like you got laid today.” Tupperware grinned, “Who’s the lucky person?”

Mysterion shook his head, “I didn’t get laid…I had a wonderful two hours with a girl.”

“That sounds like you got laid, dude.” Tupperware remarked, “If you’re looking for Call Girl and Toolshed they’re with Human Kite trying to handle whatever shit Captain Fatass is trying to do.

The mention of the Coon made Mysterion roll his eyes, “So what is he planning?”

“I don’t know, something to do with poisoning the drinking water, the same shit he tried six months ago.”

“He really doesn’t have any new ideas, does he?” Mysterion chuckled, “He’s a horrible villain.”

The two of them didn’t expect Human Kite to burst in laughing, “—and the look on his FACE!”

“Really, the look on his fucking face was priceless.” Toolshed followed, laughing along with him.

“Wait wait, hold up.” Tupperware went over to them, “I assumed you were out fighting Coon.”

“We were.” Toolshed smiled, watching as Call Girl came through the door, “Tell them what happened!”

Call Girl still looked dazed, “Coon was doing the same thing he always did, you know, trying to insult everyone while attempting to look moderately terrifying, and then before he could actually do it Masquerade appeared.”

Mysterion blinked owlishly, “Wait, the same woman from before?”

“The very same.” Toolshed grinned, “She incapacitated him with the violin and we were able to restrain him, and you wouldn’t believe what happened next.”

“The fuck did I miss?” Mysterion nearly shouted.

“Let them t-talk!” Fastpass hissed.

Human Kite began to pace the room, “Masquerade decided to come and introduce herself to us, right? Fatass is still kneeling on the floor all tied up. She asks about Coon and steps over to him and he just looks up and legit fucking looks so starstruck and says ‘please step on my balls’.”

Mysterion couldn’t understand what he was hearing, “Wait, what? He said what?”

“ _Please step on my balls._ ” Toolshed repeated, “He looked like he was in love or something, it was hilarious.”

Tupperware quirked a brow, “Where are they now?”

“Oh, we handed Coon over to the SPPD and they locked him up, and Masquerade had left…”

“After giving Kite lingering looks.” Toolshed grinned again, watching as his friend went red, “I thought you were all flirty flirty with Lizzie Baker, now you’re going after Masquerade? Who taught you to be a playboy?”

“I’m not a playboy!” Kite shouted, becoming angry at the assumption, “That’s entirely insulting to think that I’m trying to flirt with anyone—“

Mysterion blinked, “You’re getting far too defensive over some good-natured teasing.” He folded his arms, moving closer to him, “Is there anything you’re hiding?”

Kite’s eyes switched from Mysterion to Toolshed, Call Girl and Tupperware, his anxiety starting to creep up his neck, “Shouldn’t we be writing a report or someth—“

“Spill it, laser boy.” Call Girl glared at him, putting her hands on her hips and trying to look intimidating, which worked most of the time.

Human Kite stared at her for a while, looking away before turning his eyes down to his shoes. “Lizzie Baker and Masquerade is the same person.” He mumbled.

Everyone went quiet at the revelation, the silence overtook them for a moment before Toolshed facepalmed, “I shoulda realized, the violin…”

“Wait I thought Lizzie wasn’t here anymore?” Call Girl looked shocked, “Didn’t you say she was only staying for a few days?”

Kite still kept his eyes on his shoes, “She came to me to tell me she was staying in South Park longer, and that she knew that I was the Human Kite.”

“No way,” Toolshed went over to him, “So, is she a civilian like Alice was or—“

Kite looked up quickly, “No, she’s established and everything - I did a search on her. She’s popular in the forums, but she’s mainly known in Germany, Europe, and Asia.”

“The same places she went to during her tours.” Call Girl said knowingly, “She’s a superhero while being a famous violinist.”

“How is she able to work that out, isn’t she like hounded by paparazzi?” Tupperware questioned, “How do people not guess she’s Masquerade?”

Kite smiled slightly, “She told me she takes every precaution imaginable to juggle both lives, and so far the only one who found out was me,”

“And now us.”

The only one who wasn’t talking was Mysterion, who was deep in thought over the revelation. The fact that Masquerade was Lizzie Baker sounded amazing, and he was wondering how he could get Masquerade to help him with his task. In order to get Alice back on the side of good he needed some time, but more than that he needed another person to help him, and who better than Alice’s sister?

“I want you to invite her to the Freedom Pals.” Mysterion said then, perking everyone’s attention.

“Wait what?”

“You can’t be s-se-serious.”

“She’s an outsider!”

Mysterion ignored them, “I don’t care, you need to invite her here. I’m doing something very important right now and it requires her help.” He went over to a desk with a tablet, tapping into it. “Do you think you can do that, Kite?”

Kite swallowed thickly, nodding, “Uh…yeah, I think I can do that—what are you doing that’s so important?”

Mysterion didn’t look away from the tablet, his hand tapping and swiping over the sightings of Masquerade and anything he could gather from the internet. “I’m working on getting Alice back to the side of good.”

Call Girl approached him, “You found Alice?”

“Wait, why didn’t you say anything?” Toolshed looked offended, “We want to help—“

“None of you are going near her.” Mysterion finally turned to them, his voice raising. “The last time I wanted your help you chucklekfucks made it worse and Kite almost died for it.” He looked over at Kite, “And since she doesn’t like any of you right now it’s up to me to do this, alone, by myself.”

Tupperware frowned, “Why don’t you get Wonder Storm to help you? She likes him.”

“No, I have to do this on my own.” Mysterion said quietly, “I have to do this very carefully, because she only works on truth and honesty, and I don’t want to give her anything less than what she deserves. The more I can get her away from Chaos’s influence the easier I can make sure she will actually think about the damage he’s been doing onto innocent people.” His hand shook slightly, making a fist before he took a breath and let go, “This isn’t a one-and-done task, and I’m going to give her what she’s been looking for.”

Kite frowned, “What would _that_ be?”

“A friend.”

* * *

Across the city in a lone factory Lady Chaos was sitting on a desk, legs crossed, a tablet in her hands. Her eyes scanned all the chemicals they were using in the Candy drug and she could feel her gut churning. She had never looked over the ingredients of this drug before into such detail, and comparing it with other drugs like cocaine and meth, it was starting to look more dangerous. She remembered when she was first told about it, how it seemed less dangerous at first.

“Lady?” Chaos walked in and Lady quickly shut off the tablet, pulling on a smile. “Oh, there you are.” The blonde walked further into the office, stopping in front of her and putting his hands on either side of the desk, trapping her in with a smile on his face. “Whatcha doin?”

“Just looking over the sales figures.” She wondered when it became her habit to lie, when she hated liars in general. She felt like such a hypocrite. “I’ve…got an important question.” She leaned forward and kissed his nose before leaning back, “Do you realize that innocent people are becoming hooked on the drug itself?”

Chaos looked confused by that, “What d’ya mean?”

She put the tablet aside, reaching up to scratch her arm nervously. “I met someone in college who was affected by the drug personally, their little sister took it by accident and now they’re working hard to pay for her recovery bills.”

Chaos took in the information, not looking bothered nor guilty over the news, “There’s always going to be innocent casualties, but you’re going to have to realize that in the drug industry, we can’t afford to have a bleeding heart to any story that comes our way. It’s counterproductive to our sales.”

Lady didn’t like that answer, “I wasn’t aware that children were being affected.”

“Lady, children are going to be affected no matter what. Either by their drug-addled parents or by peer pressure itself. Wouldn’t you rather it be with Candy than anything else like heroin? At least with Candy then there’s less of a chance of a death.”

She opened her mouth and shut it, growing frustrated, “Just because it’s not heroin—“

“Ah,” Chaos pulled her into another kiss, “You need to stop worrying about the affect it has on people,” He paused then, an idea passing his head, “That gives me a great idea, I could set up recovery centers for those who are affected.” He grinned widely, “How does that sound?”

It was Lady’s turn to look confused, “Recovery centers?”

“To treat those who are addicted, it will earn us profit aside for the sales from the drug itself. This can be a nation-wide thing.”

“Isn’t that a little dirty though? Making profit from curing the people who were affected by your drug in the first place?”

“It’s not all that dirty, we’re helping those who need it.” Chaos reasoned. “The cigarette companies do the same thing, those anti-smoking commercials were created by them, because they’re aware of what cigarettes do to people.”

That just didn’t make any sense, because if the creators wanted people to stop using their product they would take it away, not create impossible solutions for a prevalent problem.

“But there’s no way to fight this drug, it’s nearly impossible—“

“Just leave it to me, my Lady.” He leaned up to kiss her again, “You’re so smart, after we get done with this I’m going to show you my appreciation in a more…intimate…manner.” He kissed her again, this time with more passion behind it before pulling away. Lady was caught up in the intensity but there was still that nagging thought, that none of this sounded right. She watched as Chaos finally started to leave, and soon she was alone again, staring at the door for a moment.

She reached over to grab the tablet again, going back to the list. Something told her he wasn’t going to design any counter drug, and that they were going to stay addicted.

It made Chaos seem like more of a villain than she had once thought.


	4. First Dates

Kyle was rightly nervous, this was technically his first date. Leave it to him to be so socially inept that he couldn’t get a date until college, but he wasn’t really like everyone else. Teenagers had one thing on their mind, sex, and Kyle was never on the same page as the rest of them. He didn’t want _sex_ , he wanted something more than that. Emotional connections, intelligent conversation, cuddles. Elizabeth offered that and more, and the fact that she was so down to Earth when she was a music superstar was just fantastic. So far, she had stayed elusive to the public eye, they met in secluded areas in private to talk, but now this was something different. Tonight he was going out in public at a fancy restaurant where other people were going to dine and Elizabeth was sure to get some turned heads.

He had to buy something fancy for this date, since he had nothing as good in his own closet. Sweater vests and shirts, no tie or suit jacket in sight. He didn’t even know how to tie a tie, he had to learn it from watching a YouTube video. The tie was a nice green one, and he made sure that nothing was out of place. Already he felt like the tie was strangling him, mostly from his nerves and anxiety wrapping around his neck and making it hard to breathe.

Someone whistled from behind and Kyle nearly jumped, glaring at the man behind him in the mirror, his raven-haired friend that had a grin on his face. “Fuck off.” Kyle bit out.

“You look so adorable, should I get your mom to come down here and take pictures of her little bubbeh out on a date?” Stan teased.

The mention of his mother didn’t make it any better for him, the man cringing at the thought of his mother here, “Please no, I don’t want to embarrass myself any further.”

Stan pulled out his phone, “Just let me take one picture.” He wanted to capture this moment for his own personal records.

“No.” Kyle left the room, but Stan followed, already filming him with his camera.

“Please just one picture? I promise not to post it anywhere or give it to Kenny.”

“You better NOT give it to Kenny! I don’t want him to get off to any of this.” Kyle turned around just in time to see Stan keeping the phone directed towards him and he groaned, holding out his hand in front of his face to block himself from being filmed, “Jesus Christ Stan I better not find this on TikTok.”

Stan kept his grin, “I think it’d be better on Snapchat, you know, send it to all of our friends.”

Kyle flipped him off just as there was a knock on the door, doing his best to try to look normal and ignoring the camera directed at him in order to open the door. When he opened, though, his breath was taken away. His eyes were on Elizabeth, how she was in a black velvet and lace dress. She was smiling at him until she saw the camera. The smile disappeared and she held up her hand, “I didn’t know you’d find paparazzi so soon.” She commented mildly, looking annoyed.

“It’s not paparazzi it’s my douche of a best friend,” Kyle rolled his eyes, gesturing to Stan, “Stan, this is Elizabeth,”

“I still can’t believe you’re going on a date with THE Lizzie Baker.” Stan finally lowered his phone, grinning at the two of them, “Way to go.”

“She’s not Lizzie Baker okay, to me she’s just Elizabeth.” Kyle said defensively, not catching Elizabeth’s flushed face and the fact that she had to look somewhere else. “Please please don’t post that photo anywhere, we want this to be as private as possible before people start butting their noses in.”

“You’re going to Bucca De Faggoncini there’s no way this will be private.” Stan noted, finally turning off the recording. “It’s nice to meet you, Elizabeth.” He smiled sincerely at her, “Don’t mind me with the camera, this is just Kyle’s first date that’s all.”

Kyle was turning red with every word, glancing at Elizabeth as she chuckled into her hand, “It’s not—“

“That’s so cute.” Elizabeth said softly, her eyes on Kyle.

Kyle made a squeaking noise, all the anxiety was trying to come out like steam from a kettle, “We should go.” He said then, loudly and quickly, “We should go, let’s go, we’re going now, bye!” He got his jacket and his keys quickly before ushering her out the door quickly, shutting it just as a flash went off.

Stan lowered his phone, laughing.

* * *

They couldn’t be private for long.

The guy at the door knew who Elizabeth was immediately, automatically giving them the best table in the restaurant. Elizabeth didn’t seem bothered by it at all, actually expecting to be noticed. This was the first time going into public without sunglasses or a hat, so it was to be expected that she was recognized.

Kyle did his best to remain calm, but his attention was on the whispers and murmurs from nearby tables, the speculation about what was going on driving his anxiety down a worse path. He wished he asked her to a picnic or an at-home date instead of this.

“I don’t like this.” Kyle said quietly, “Everyone’s staring at you.”

“They stare at me often, Kyle.” Elizabeth said calmly, “The trick is to ignore it, being well-known means being noticed wherever you go and stared at by nearly everyone, it can be exhausting at first, but you end up learning how to ignore it.”

Kyle ran his fingers through his hair, sighing, “I’m not used to being stared at period. No one stares at me, I hate that you have to go through this.”

She smiled kindly at him, reaching over to his hand and squeezing it in a comforting gesture, “The fact that you care about me so much instead of being in the spotlight means a great deal to me, Kyle.”

He smiled at her, unable to look away from her eyes, “I would love to take you somewhere else if you prefer, I know a coffee shop that’s open all night, hardly anyone comes after eight.”

“The cooks are making our food, I wouldn’t feel right just to waste all of that hard work.” She smiled coyly at him, “This had to come sometime, I don’t think I could stay in South Park any longer without exposing myself.” She took the wine to her lips and drank some, setting it down afterwards. “I’m not ashamed of being seen with you.”

Kyle’s blush crept up his cheeks and he looked away, clearing his throat, “I—I’m not ashamed of being seen with you either.” He looked back up at her and tried a nervous smile. “I would not let the unwanted attention ruin whatever is going on between the two of us, Liz, because it would be foolish of me to allow anyone else to sway my honest feelings for you.”

Elizabeth took a napkin to her mouth, trying to hide her own emotions and the smile that played at her lips. “I wish I had met you sooner.”

Kyle grinned slightly, “Doesn’t mean we can’t develop a friendship now. I mean, how long do you plan to stay here?”

The woman went quiet for a moment, “As long as I deem fit.” She said then, sitting up straighter as the waitress arrived with their food. Kyle couldn’t help but smile, the onlookers weren’t bugging him anymore.

The dinner went by pretty well, once Kyle was able to tune out the people that were watching. They had a lovely conversation between dinner and dessert, and only twice did people approach the table for an autograph. Elizabeth reacted kindly, if not a bit shy. It was easy to tell that she wasn’t used to interacting with people, but she wasn’t snobby about it.

As soon as they were done Kyle wasn’t privy to the reporters waiting outside, specific reporters from the South Park Entertainment news department. Kyle didn’t appreciate how they just jumped in and began asking questions, grasping Elizabeth’s hand tightly while taking her to his car. As soon as they were inside Kyle began to drive, taking a steady breath after he managed to blend in with other cars going downtown.

“That was crazy.” Kyle said loudly, “I can’t believe they do that.”

“Try being in Paris coming out of a concert.” Elizabeth mused, “This wasn’t as bad, it was only three people. I’m not hounded like the big name celebrities but I do get my fare share of reporters. This is better compared to what I usually get.”

Kyle nodded, turning at a red light and heading uphill, “I know a little private area where we can just talk, I really don’t want to take you home yet.”

“I don’t want to leave either.” Elizabeth smiled at him, “I never expected to come here and stay for so long, you know? I was only going to ask about my sister and leave…” Her smile slowly left her, and she took a deep breath, “I…I can see why she liked you, Kyle.” She brushed a tear away from her eyes, turning her head to look out the window, “This place too, I can see why she stayed.”

Kyle felt a black hole churning in his gut at her tears, knowing that Elizabeth was crying over a lost sister that wasn’t lost at all. He longed to tell her the truth, but that meant revealing just who sent Alice over the edge. He wasn’t ready to ruin this…was it a relationship at this point? It had to be. Such a quick one but he didn’t want to lose Elizabeth so quickly. She would hate him if she knew.

He then remembered Mysterion’s plea, that he wanted Kyle to give her the invitation to the Freedom Pals. His arms felt itchy just thinking about it, because if she was there then the truth would come out sometime. Hell, the truth would come out anyway if Masquerade ever crossed paths with Lady Chaos.

His veins ran cold at the implications. If Masquerade discovered who Lady Chaos was, then this would become worse. Elizabeth would hate all of them for hiding such a deep dark secret. If they were able to tell her before any of that, there was probably a chance to make things better. He soon realized that he just had to do what Mysterion wanted him to do, because Mysterion needed Masquerade, and for her to help him it was detrimental for her to be told the truth.

He was screwed no matter what he did, but if Mysterion was handling everything then there was a good chance that Kyle wouldn’t be vilified.

Kyle silently drove them to the spot up on a cliff, overlooking the growing city. It was the time of night where the lights all around painted a perfect portrait of the night life the town had brought. Everyone was more awake at night, everything was more alive and the colors were bolder, more crisp. It was such a good thing that Lord and Lady Chaos didn’t decide that tonight was a good night to wreak havoc.

“Liz…” Kyle felt a lump in his throat, his anxiety bubbling up from his stomach. “You remember my friends, do you?”

The woman looked back at him, “Which ones?”

“Call Girl, Mysterion, Toolshed?” He tried to smile, “Well…uh…they’ve been talking and…” That was another thing, he had told them who Masquerade really was. “I didn’t tell them on purpose, just know that much, it was happenstance but uh…they kind of know who you are.”

Elizabeth didn’t react right away, but she looked away, pursing her lips together as she tried not to do anything rash. “You told them.”

“Not on purpose!” Kyle held up his hands placatingly, “It’s actually…uh…Mysterion asked me to relay something to you.”

Elizabeth’s gaze was hard, “What would that be?”

“Uh, he wants you to join the Freedom Pals.” Kyle looked like he was going to be executed from the glare she was giving him, but at the invitation her expression faltered, confusion washing over her.

“They’re inviting me?”

“Yes.” Kyle answered, swallowing the lump in his throat. “Mysterion actually needs your help in something important.”

She nodded evenly, thinking about it, “What would that be?”

“I…it’s complicated.” Kyle said, “But he’ll tell you everything once you agree to help him.”

The woman stayed quiet for a moment, thinking about the request and everything about it. No one had offered her a place before, she had just been a traveling superhero only helping out when needed. To think that someone wanted _her_ help in anything, it was almost flattering.

“Give me a couple of days.” Elizabeth said then, no longer angry. “I need some time to think.”

Kyle nodded, letting out a relieved sigh and relaxing some, “So you’re not mad at me?”

“No, I’m mad at you…” She trailed off, “But it’ll pass.” She waited for a moment and sighed, “I don’t want to think about it now, let’s continue this date. I’ll punish you later.”

Something about that scared Kyle more than it should have.

* * *

Kenny texted him earlier that day, wondering if he was free. He wasn’t, but it wasn’t like he was too busy to go out. All he had been doing was working on his inventions, building another weapon. The fun thing about having no deadlines is that Ren could take a break whenever he damn well wanted to and work on it later. So Ren said he would meet Kenny somewhere.

It wasn’t Tweek Bros. by a long-shot, but this off-the-wall out of the way coffee shop was known for holding things like poetry nights and talent shows. This seemed to be one of those nights where indie musicians wanted to get their music heard, and once Ren had walked in he was greeted with acoustic guitar and yodeling. Now that’s something he hadn’t heard before.

He found Kenny sitting near the back, pulling on a smile and making his way over to him, slipping into the seat next to him. “Interesting place you chose.” Ren mused, glancing towards the front. “I never heard anyone yodeling Queen songs before.”

Kenny chuckled, “Yeah it gets a little eclectic here, but I come here when I’m not working just to people watch.”

“You seem to do a lot of people watching.” Ren looked around the crowd, spotting a group of Goths sitting near the edge. “Very…interesting people.”

“Oh, I know. Do you want something to drink?”

Ren smiled widely at him, “The biggest white-chocolate mocha they have.” He wanted to test this place out.

“Aye.” Kenny stood up, saluting him and heading to the barista. While he was ordering Ren took in the scenery. The cafe was as eclectic as its clientele, and he wondered how he never heard of this place. Not that he’d ever replace Tweek Bros., this place didn’t have the one blonde barista that he had grown fond of. He watched the yodeling man make it to the end of Don’t Stop Me Now, applauding when everyone else began to clap. From the edge, a woman in pure black stepped up to the stage while her partner with red hair had a pan-flute. Ren chuckled, finally looking away when Kenny came back. He was already having fun, and the best part about it was that no one knew him.

“The largest white-chocolate mocha they have.” Kenny delivered the large ceramic coffee cup and set it in front of Ren. It looked almost like a bowl from the size and Ren’s eyes went wide.

“I love you.” He blurted out, catching himself suddenly and blushing, looking away. “I mean—you know—“

Kenny laughed and shook his head, “I get it, don’t worry.” He had a modest sized cup of coffee for himself, but he watched as Ren attacked his. “Are you sure you want to drink all of that, that’s a lot of caffeine.”

Ren swallowed his first mouthful, “Kenny I drink coffee all day, I’m used to the caffeine.”

“You’re going to have to sleep sometime.” He countered, looking cautious.

“I wouldn’t worry.” Ren reassured him, “I’m used to working long hours without any sleep.”

“Where do you work?” Kenny questioned, curious as to what his answer would be.

Ren thought about it, “I’m a freelance computer programmer, right now I’m working for a private corporation. I’d tell you more, but, gag order.” He winced slightly at his own lie, feeling that nagging feeling in the pit of his gut. Hypocrite, hypocrite, hypocrite.

Is being a villain all about lying? He didn’t like it.

Kenny was silent for a moment, nodding, “Alright, I won’t ask anything else.”

Relief washed over Ren and he returned to his cup of coffee, still bothered that he had to be so deceitful. It didn’t sit right with him, he used to be so honest and open about everything…

Kenny could tell that Ren was clearly bothered that he was creating a fake story, and it made him smile. It meant that Alice still had guilt over things like lying, it was good to know that she hadn’t lost her morality.

Ren continued to drink, feeling eyes on him and realizing that Kenny was smiling at him. “What?” He asked, confused.

“Just…you remind me of someone I knew.” He commented, setting his head in his hands. He still hadn’t touched his coffee yet. It was black, nothing fancy.

“Who would that be?”

“Ah, you wouldn’t have known her.” Kenny said quietly, “She was an enigma, someone I admired.”

He didn’t know who Kenny meant by that, letting the thought go. He was halfway done with his mocha and it was actually good. On the scale of Harbucks to Tweek Bros., it was around the latter, but not as perfect. He had to come back again sometime. He took another look at Kenny, a question forming in his head. “So…I know you work at Tweek Bros., but do you have any other jobs?”

Kenny finally took a sip of his coffee, noting that it had gotten lukewarm. He didn’t really mind. “I help with the city,” He said after a moment of thought, “Odd jobs, whatever they want me to do.” It wasn’t a lie at all, because it was true, being Mysterion was his main job, it was what he trained himself to do.

The night went like that afternoon at the college, the two of them listening to various performers while talking about anything and everything, both of them losing track of time until they realized that there was little to no one else in the cafe and the owner was staring at them expectantly. They agreed on leaving the cafe, but neither of them wanted to go home. Kenny and Ren settled on walking around downtown, because it was still very much alive. 

“Your sister,” Ren said suddenly, as it was a thought that was on his mind the entire night, “Can you tell me about her? If that’s okay, I mean.”

Kenny took a breath, giving the other man a small smile, “She’s very kind. Friendly to everyone she meets. Our home life wasn’t a...good one, I raised her more than my parents, but despite the state of everything she always kept a sunny outlook on life. She’s literally the light that can shine through any darkness.”

Ren felt guilty for this, for the fact that someone like that was trying to recover from a drug that his boyfriend had created. Then there was the fact that Chaos didn’t seem to care as much as he wanted him to, and Karen could be one of thousands. Did being a villain mean losing your humanity? The thought struck a chord inside of him.

The man thought about it, looking over to see Kenny’s sad eyes. “If someone were to design a counter drug for Candy, what would happen?”

Kenny stopped walking, turning fully to stare at Ren. The offer of a counter drug took his breath away and he couldn’t get over his shock, that perhaps Alice was going to do all of that for Karen’s sake. “What do you mean?”

Ren smiled at him, “I have a friend who’s proficient in biochemistry and is somewhat of a genius, I could ask her to see if she could dissect the drug and make a cure of some kind. She kinda owes me a favor.”

Kenny’s body started to feel lighter, and the first thing he did was lunge over to Ren and pulled him into a tight hug as if the universe might take him away. This had to be a sign, Alice wasn’t a villain, Alice wanted to help his sister. _She wasn’t evil._

Ren stilled when Kenny pulled him into an embrace, smiling after a moment and reaching up to pat his head, “No one deserves this torture, not even you.” He said quietly, letting Kenny hug him up until his phone began to ring, ruining the moment.

Kenny frowned, knowing just who was messaging Ren at this time of night. He let go of the other and watched Ren take out his phone, reading the message before looking saddened. “AI have to go.” He said then, typing out a reply.

“Do you really?” Kenny asked, a little downtrodden that the night had to end this quick. He didn’t like it, since he was beginning to enjoy being with him.

Ren nodded, pulling on a slight smile and stepping away, “Next time though, text me when you’re free and I’ll look at my schedule.”

Kenny nodded, “I’ll be waiting.”

The statement had something warm swell up inside of him but Ren did his best to ignore it, turning to go back to his car.

Kenny only watched him leave, hoping that the next time would be sooner than later.

* * *

By the time Ren arrived back at home it was Chaos who greeted him.

“Whatcha doin up so late?” He asked it without malice or cruelty, watching as Ren pulled the wig off of his head. Lady still had the smile on her face when Kenny had hugged her, something Chaos noticed instantly.

“I was out with a friend.” She told him, “We had coffee and talked.”

He didn’t look bothered by that, though he did look worried, “Gee, I don’t like you makin’ friends when you’re hidin’ your identity, anythin’ could just happen and I don’t want to see you get hurt.”

It was that tone of voice that had Lady attentive, it was the same tone of voice he used when he was Butters, the same mannerisms and drawl. It almost sounded insincere when he normally talked without it for the past two months. She did her best not to let it show.

“I know how to take care of myself.” Lady told him in a reassuring voice, going over to him and hugging him. “It’s nice that you’re concerned for my well-being but I know how to stay hidden.”

Chaos smiled and kissed her cheek, “Go n’ take a bath, my Lady, you deserve to relax once and a while.”

Lady only grinned at him, stepping away and nearly skipping down the corridor, whistling all the while.

Chaos kept his smile until she was gone, and it slowly left him. “Minion.” He demanded, snapping his fingers.

A minion walked in wearing casual clothes, “Just got back, Boss.”

“What did you see?” He questioned.

The minion pulled out his phone and showed it to Chaos, the images of Alice and Kenny having a good time talking, while the last shot was them in a tight embrace. Chaos’s eyes lingered on the last photo, and he sighed, “Delete them and get your uniform back on, 69.”

“Yessir.” The minion took his phone back and left, leaving Chaos alone in the room to think about what he had just seen.

“Someone’s trying to take my Lady away from me…” Chaos mumbled to himself, “I won’t have it.”


	5. The Price of Candy

It had been two days since Kyle had asked Elizabeth about joining the Freedom Pals, which had been two days of horrible anxiety because Mysterion’s plans all rode on Masquerade’s involvement. He didn’t know if Elizabeth would actually agree to help them or not, since she wasn’t affiliated with any other superhero organization in any other country. He had a Skype chat with a superhero based in Germany, who had told him that they also requested her to join their organization, only to be turned down right away.

In retrospect, the fact that Elizabeth told him to give her a couple of days meant that she was honestly thinking about it.

Thank Moses for little favors.

When Elizabeth made herself known again she had appeared at his door, wearing her ‘hiding from paparazzi’ attire, because it was all over the South Park Entertainment buzz that Lizzie Baker was spending time in the city. When she removed her hat and sunglasses she fixed him with an exhausted smile. “I’ve made my decision.” In her hand was a tote bag and a violin case, which told Kyle everything he needed to know.

Kyle smiled widely, until Stan walked in.

“Dude do I need to get out the camera again?”

“Stan!”

Elizabeth stilled, staring at Stan and then at Kyle, her eyes moving back and fourth. “Kyle?”

The ginger suddenly realized what was going on and grinned sheepishly, “Liz, this is Toolshed.”

Stan smiled, holding up his hand and waving, “Hi.”

A sigh of relief escaped her and she relaxed completely, “Ah, so…how do we do this? I’ve never stepped foot in an organization before.”

Kyle smiled again, “It depends on the time of the day. We can’t risk anything during daylight, so we usually go to the base and change there if something does happen during that time. If it’s night and we’re not there, we usually don’t wait.”

Elizabeth nodded in understanding, “Alright, then take me there. Everyone is aware of who I am, right?”

“Yes, we’ll tell you more once we get there, ready?”

Stan grabbed his keys, grinning, “I’m driving.”

* * *

Human Kite was the one who led Masquerade into the base, Toolshed bringing up the rear with a huge grin on his face. Doctor Timothy and Mysterion were already there, along with Wonder Storm, Call Girl, and Super Guy. The appearance of the rogue superhero brought all of their attention to Masquerade, who felt the nerves crawling up her body. Normally, she was used to staring, but this was a different matter altogether.

_“Masquerade, welcome to The Freedom Pals.”_ Doctor Timothy began, _“For the fact that you’ve assisted us twice now, I feel that your skills are valuable and needed at this moment in time.”_

“This is my spiel, Doctor.” Mysterion stepped up to her, holding out his hand. “My name is Mysterion, I’m the one who is in dire need of your services.”

Masquerade took the hand cautiously, no longer feeling nervous, “It must be important if you require _my_ services, what pray tell are you experiencing that requires me? You seem to have an ample amount of members already.”

“We indeed have many members, but this many is to counteract the few villains we have. Professor Chaos is a villain the requires _more_ than one person, especially since he has acquired a second.”

Masquerade quirked a brow in interest, “A second?”

Mysterion took a steady breath, seeing that Kite and Toolshed also looked alert. Well, here we go. “She goes by Lady Chaos.” Mysterion took out a remote and activated a screen, starting on a photo of the masked villain in blue, “She’s an expert engineer with weapons that can cause any kind of havoc depending on what they are.” He continued to flip though the images, multiple shots of Lady Chaos with Professor Chaos. “She’s been active for about three months now,” Anticipation was alight everywhere in the room, Mysterion’s eyes on Masquerade while she studied the photos.

“She had an alias before changing her name,” Mysterion continued, “Going by Psychotique, although her true identity is one that you would be familiar with, a woman named Alice Horowitz.” The photo then stopped at the woman with a braid and a hoodie, holding her battle staff with a wide grin on her face on the cover of TIME.

Masquerade’s breath hitched, her eyes going wide.

Everyone watched her as she processed what she was told, her features warping into different emotions until settling onto anger, and she turned sharply to face Human Kite, glaring dangerously at him. “You led me to believe she was dead!” She shouted out, “Why didn’t you tell me she was alive? I had a breakdown!” Her voice cracked and tears formed in the corner of her eyes, “I thought—“

“I’m sorry, but I assumed that if you knew the truth then something worse would have happened. Things just… Alice had given up on humanity altogether.”

Masquerade brushed the tears from her eyes, “I told her they would try to take advantage of her,” She said weakly, “She didn’t ever listen to me, she always said that people aren’t all that bad, even though she would cry to me about losing friends, she still thought better of everyone!” She put her hands to her eyes, letting out a shuddering sigh, “So she’s a villain…”

“I don’t think it was just her surroundings. While circumstances were becoming difficult for her,” Mysterion looked at Kyle and Toolshed specifically, who looked down at their shoes, “Chaos was pulling the strings to sway her faith. He was posing as someone else at the time,” He switched the photos on the screen, exposing a blonde boy with light blonde hair and a wide smile. “He used to go by Butters Stotch, but he’s since disposed of that identity to fully become Professor Chaos. He was Alice’s closest friend.”

Masquerade remembered Butters, how her sister talked about him nearly every time she called. “She was manipulated, then…” She wasn’t mad at Kite anymore, her hands forming into fists as they shook. “You said you needed more than one person to take on, just why is that?”

Mysterion flipped the photo, showing more images of Professor Chaos. “Chaos is the kingpin of Colorado. He’s the state’s biggest and most dangerous villain. He employs just about anyone into his fold, calling them minions.” A photo was now of a minion, and their number, 12, “These minions are anywhere and everywhere, keeping Chaos updated on whatever is going on.”

“He uses people to gain a following, then.”

“There’s more.” Kite said then, “Chaos is the sole creator of the nation’s newest illegal drug, Agerate, commonly known as Candy.” The photo was now of the little pills, looking similar to skittles but instead of the S there was an A. “It’s more dangerous than the harder drugs, despite it being advertised as the safer alternative to all of them. With the drugs, he’s created his own fortune, and he’s only getting more powerful by the day.”

“You want me to go after him, then.” Masquerade spoke up, “Because I have a way to—“

“It’s not Chaos that I want you to set your sights on, it’s Alice. As long as she’s in Chaos’s corner we can’t get to her, he’s determined to keep her on his side. I promised Alice a long time ago that I would bring her back to the side of good, and you’re the key to helping me achieve that.”

Masquerade’s back went stiff, “I won’t allow her to stay as a villain, it goes against everything she believes in.”

“Well her beliefs were skewed after people _who shall not be named_ dropped her to save their own selves.” Super Guy commented blandly, his eyes lingering on Kite.

Human Kite grit his teeth, “Not now, Super Guy.”

“Oh, you don’t want her to know your little fault in this, Kite? Because you’re the one who dealt the final blow by calling the Dean on her.”

Masquerade slowly turned to Kite, staring at him evenly, “What?”

Human Kite put his hands up placatingly, “I wasn’t the only one, we were all heated that she was trying to be a masked identity. Mysterion was put on task to protect her from harm and she was trying to put herself in harm’s way.”

“It’s your fault too!” Wonder Storm slapped Super Guy on the arm, “You provoked her!”

“The only one who wasn’t hostile to her taking up a mask was Wonder Storm!” Call Girl yelled.

_“All right, all right!”_ Doctor Timothy cried out mentally, _“It’s an equal blame all around, no one here is more at fault than the other.”_ He turned to Masquerade, _“You understand this, don’t you? A rogue superhero isn’t welcomed until they can prove their worth, and at the time she was unaligned.”_

Masquerade took in the words, thinking. It wasn’t just with her, then, Alice had the same thing too, and everything turned out badly because of it. “Her fault was coming out as unaligned.” She said then, quietly, “If your allegiance isn’t clear no one is going to trust you right off the bat.” She looked around at everyone, “I don’t know what happened that pushed her over the edge, and perhaps I don’t want to know, but what’s done is done and now this is our reality.”

The woman stepped over to the screen to stare up at a photo of Alice, “Alice has no evil bone in her body. She won’t last as a villain no matter what Professor Chaos will want to do.” She turned back to the rest, “Guilt and empathy will creep up on her and make her see reason. If you really want her back on your side, then actually be at her side. Her name and the fame that comes with it was the biggest thing she hated about herself, because she didn’t know who to trust. Don’t lie to her, don’t hide anything. If you’ve done something detrimental then she won’t hesitate to retaliate.”

Human Kite swallowed thickly, already feeling guilty. “What I did, I nearly cost her everything she worked hard on, she has tried to kill me because of it.”

Masquerade looked directly at him, “She values her creations more than her own life, I don’t know how long it’ll take until you’re forgiven but she’s not the type to forgive and forget.”

He nodded slowly, looking away.

The woman went back to Mysterion, taking his hands. “Whatever you want me to do, just tell me and I’ll make it happen.”

Mysterion stared at the hands holding his, raising his eyes up to hers and nodding, “I have something planned, all I need is Lizzie Baker. How soon can you set up a concert in South Park?”

Masquerade smiled, “Give me a time a venue, and I’ll do the rest.”

* * *

It was another night out with Kenny, and by this time Ren was looking forward to those texts on his phone. The two of them met in public again, outside of Hell’s Pass. Ren didn’t know why Kenny wanted them to meet at Hell’s Pass, but time with Kenny was something he didn’t want to pass up.

“I’m here.” Ren said as he crossed the parking lot, looking concerned, “Why did you want to meet here?”

Kenny was holding a bouquet of flowers, looking relieved that Ren was with him. “I wanted you to meet my sister.”

Ren blinked in confusion, “Isn’t that a bit personal? We haven’t known each other for—“

“I trust you.” Kenny said suddenly, catching Ren off-guard. The man suddenly felt guilty, because Kenny trusted him and all Ren could do was lie about himself. It didn’t seem fair. “I thought you’d want to see why I’m working so hard.”

There was a beat of silence and Ren soon nodded, looking back up at the hospital doors before looking back at Kenny, “Lead the way.”

Kenny turned and led him into the hospital. The receptionist recognized him immediately, giving him a small smile as Kenny waved slightly, passing her desk and going further down the hall. Once they reached the elevators they waited for it to open. Still, the nurses who went by would greet Kenny by name, passing him with a smile. Ren watched, “You seem to be well known here…” He observed.

“I come down here every weekend.” Kenny told him, entering the elevator. Ren followed him, the two of them standing there, while Ren began to feel extremely awkward. The elevator ride was too quiet for him, and he could feel his nervousness bubble up from inside of him. Why was he so nervous? He was only going to see Kenny’s sister.

When the elevator finally hit the desired floor it stopped, and three people began to walk in while Kenny led Ren back out, taking him down the hallway while Ren glanced at every doorway they went past. He could hear various sounds, patients having conversations with nurses, some crying, a faint scream. When the scream happened two nurses began to run towards it, and Ren looked back to Kenny. “What floor is this?”

“It was an unused floor of the hospital that they refashioned to hold the people affected by drugs. There aren’t any recovery centers in South Park and so this is as close to a recovery center as one can get.” Kenny explained, “Half of the patients here are because of Candy.”

A cold chill went up Ren’s spine at the words, and he looked away from a room and followed Kenny into the other. The room had at least two beds, one being occupied by a younger girl with tawny hair, her bright eyes on Kenny as soon as he entered. Though, what Ren noticed was the bandages that were covering her arms. He stayed silent.

“Karen, I brought a friend with me.” Kenny handed her the flowers.

The girl looked despondent, finally staring at Kenny and moving to scratch her arms. “Did they follow you?”

Kenny frowned, “No Karen, no one’s followed me.”

“Then who’s that person!” She pointed at Ren, looking paranoid. “He could be one of _them_.”

“Karen, that person is a friend.” Kenny set the flowers down next to her, trying to remain calm, “His name is Renzo. He’s a friend.”

Karen shoved the flowers off of the bed and pulled her knees up to her chest, trying not to cry. “I don’t know him Kenny, why did you bring someone I don’t know?”

Ren was feeling uncomfortable, the sight of this girl was making him sad, especially when Kenny described her to be something else entirely. “One of who?”

“Spies.” Kenny said then, “Karen thinks there might be spies wanting to take her away.”

“Some of them look like bunnies.” Karen said miserably, looking at Ren for a while and starting to shake, “Are you here to take me away?”

That cold chill turned into a freezing wave of anxiety, and Ren shook his head, “I’m not bad…” He sounded heartbroken when he said it, catching Kenny’s attention. Ren swallowed thickly, looking over at him, “Candy did this to her?” He asked.

At the mention of Candy Karen grew anxious, “Candy? Do you have Candy? I want some Candy!”

Kenny winced badly, “No, Karen, the nurses will give you Candy when you need it, Ren doesn’t have any—“ He looked at Ren with hurt, as if this whole visit was taking a lot out of him. Ren couldn’t blame him.

Karen didn’t pay attention, pressing the button for the nurse repeatedly, “I want some Candy!” She cried out.

Ren stepped back and folded his arms in on himself as the nurse came in, looking from Kenny to Ren before frowning, “Who said the C-word?” She asked.

Kenny glanced over at Ren, shaking his head. “He didn’t know, sorry.”

The nurse let out a long sigh, picking up the chart, “Miss McCormick, you’ll get another one in a half-hour.”

Karen looked horribly dejected at what the nurse said, starting to cry, “But it hurts…”

Ren couldn’t take anymore, stepping out of the room and pressing his back against the wall. He didn’t know Kenny had followed him, looking utterly torn apart. The man held his hands to his eyes, having taken his glasses off. “How…why are they still giving her Candy?” He asked in a shaky whisper.

Kenny sighed, “Because it’s what’s keeping her alive, that’s why.”

Ren looked at him, “What do you mean by that?” He was starting to feel sick to his stomach.

“It’s a thing with Candy. Nearly impossible to OD on but if you try to stop taking it then it’s impossible to survive without it.” Kenny’s eyes looked dark, “Most deaths on Candy had been from people committing suicide because they couldn’t take the withdrawal symptoms.”

The explanation was like a stab to his gut, and Ren felt even more sick to his stomach. “I…I never heard about that. At all.” So those bandages on Karen’s arms were from scratches or what else? Why didn’t Chaos ever tell him about this?

Kenny looked pained, “Now you have…and…I…” He stopped himself, looking away, “I’m sorry, sometimes she has her good days, I guess this wasn’t one of them.”

Ren stared at Kenny, unable to voice his apologies for what happened to his sister. He felt like it was his fault that she was in this state. It technically was his fault, but no, Chaos had led him to believe that the drug was safer than the most dangerous ones out there, hell, Dougie told him it was safe. He didn’t have a clue that it was this dangerous, and there were so many people…so many… He could hear screaming from down the hall, and he winced because of it. “Thank you for bringing me here…” He said then, softly.

Kenny looked at him, seeing the pain and guilt in Ren’s eyes.

“I had no idea…it was ever this bad.” Ren continued, “I’ll get in contact with my friend, and she’ll work on a counter-drug for this one.”

Kenny seemed to have finally broke into tears, reaching out and pulling Ren into a hug. If anyone could figure out how to cure this, then it would be Alice.

Ren held him tight, moving to comb his fingers through Kenny’s hair. He remembered Chaos talking about making recovery centers, and how much of a lie that was. No recovery center could fix this problem, he had made something that couldn’t be kicked unless they wanted to die. He felt lied to, that Chaos had lied straight to his face. Chaos knew what he hated the most, and he just done it without a care.

When Ren looked back up he noticed a person standing down the hall, a phone in his hands as he took a picture of him and Kenny. When he realized that Ren was watching him he lowered the phone and looked alarmed, turning and leaving quickly. Ren’s eyes narrowed, he knew that person.

“69.” He hissed out.

Kenny felt Ren’s grip tighten and pulled back, seeing how angry Ren was becoming, “What?”

Ren suddenly realized where he was and the anger was gone quickly, the man pulling on a small smile. “I…I need to get home, okay?”

“Are you okay?”

“Oh, no, it’s not—“ Ren took a breath, “I have something important that I need to take care of.”

Recognition flashed in Kenny’s eyes and he understood, taking Ren’s hand, “Alright, how about we meet again tomorrow?”

“Tomorrow sounds perfect.” Ren smiled at him, “I think I’ll be free then.”

The two of them left the hospital, at the same time that 69 had peeled out of the parking lot. Ren’s eyes followed the car, and Kenny noticed as well, moving his hand to pat the other’s back.

“Whatever you’re taking care of, just to remind you that I’m here to lend an ear if you ever need to talk.” He said calmly, already knowing what Ren was going to do.

The man nodded, “I’ll hold you to it.” He said then, going to his own car to leave.

* * *

By the time Lady Chaos got home she had removed her wig, leaving the blue beetle and making her way into the Chaos Lair. She never felt so angry in her life. Chaos had lied to her, first of all, and secondly he was sending minions to spy on her. Seeing 69 there in casual attire wasn’t a fucking coincidence, and him taking photos of her and Kenny just proved they were guilty.

“Chaos we need to talk.” She slammed the door as soon as she stepped inside, her eyes roaming until she saw him entering the room, his eyes on her. They were worried, like he had been waiting for her to get home too. She didn’t care at the moment, “When were you going to tell me that you sent a minion to spy on me?” She ground out, “I caught 69 filming me and my friend and don’t you even dare try to lie to me because I’m not stupid.”

“I wouldn’t be spying on you if you would be a little open about your outside life. I am doing you a favor, Lady, I don’t trust anyone, all these civilians could be someone they’re not and I don’t want you to be discovered. Can you imagine if you’re discovered to be Alice Horowitz? All that trouble would be wasted!”

“Alice is dead, no one would be going to find her!”

“Not unless they’re a superhero!” Chaos countered, “All of the superheroes know that Alice Horowitz isn't dead and they’re probably trying to find any way to seek you out so you can be sent to prison. You’re a villain, Lady, no one can be trusted.”

“Allow me to make my own decisions about who I can or can’t be with because I’m having a great time with Kenny!” She threw her arm out towards the window, “I never felt so free in my life, not having to worry about being judged based on who I am. He makes me feel relaxed and welcomed.”

“That man thinks you’re someone else.” Chaos told her, “What would he do if he knew you were Alice Horowitz? He would probably use you in some way and try to manipulate your friendship somehow.”

Lady remembered the first time she met Kenny McCormick, and he was hardly like the person Chaos was describing. He was a nice person with a kind heart and Chaos saying that just angered her further.

“Kenny is a saint. He’s been a saint since I met him!” She cried out, “There’s nothing wrong with him!”

“Why are you defending someone you barely know?” Chaos went over to her, “Lady, I thought I told you that you can’t trust anyone—“

“You just want me to stay inside the Chaos Lair and never leave.” She backed away from him, “I have a life outside these walls, I need social interaction, I can’t handle being isolated from everyone at every moment of the day!”

“You’re not alone, you have our minions.” Chaos reasoned, “They’re here too.”

“It’s not the same.” Lady said exhaustedly, “For one thing, the minions are forced to be nice to me, I don’t know if they’re being sincere or not.”

“I don’t force them to be nice to you—“

“When you found out that 02 attacked me with a knife you made him into a drug experiment.” She cut him off quickly, “And on the topic of drugs, why didn’t you tell me that Candy is more dangerous than I thought it was?”

Chaos paused, quirking a brow, “What do you mean?”

She folded her arms, “I went to the hospital today, Chaos, I saw a girl in the midst of a withdrawal. She can’t stop taking Candy or the withdrawal will be so bad it kills her. Do you know about this?”

There was a pregnant pause between the two of them, and Chaos watched her carefully, thinking of his answer.

“Yes, but—“

“BUT WHAT?” She screamed, “What are you going to say that will make any of this better? There’s people suffering out there!”

“If we made it safer to use and easy to kick then we wouldn’t have a clientele base!”

“That doesn’t give any excuse to you putting so many people through pain!”

“Casualties happen in the drug business, Lady, I can’t stop making this just because you suddenly get a bleeding heart over one random girl—“

That was the wrong thing to say, and Lady Chaos suddenly stormed out of the room, heading to her bedroom to take out a bag. Chaos followed her, “Lady? Lady? What are you doing?”

“You know who I am, Butters.” She said harshly, “You know that I have compassion for others and I can’t handle to see them hurt, and you go ahead and lie to me anyway, which I absolutely loathe by the way. You knew I hate liars.” She was packing her clothes, not even looking at him.

“I didn’t lie to you—“

“Withholding information is just the same as lying!” She cried out, shutting her bag, “If this is the new normal now then I’m not going to be a part of this.” She took her bag and shoved past him, back down to the entrance. “I’m sorry but I can’t do this.”

Chaos’s eyes widened and he ran after her, “Lady? No. Wait, we can work though this.” He heard the door slam shut and he winced, “Lady!” He cried, anxiety flooding his features. This wasn’t supposed to happen, not at all. When he heard the car peel out of the parking lot he let out a horrid cry, collapsing to his knees. “Alice!”

A moment passed while Chaos sat there, tearing up and sighing. He wanted her to see reason, but he wasn’t ever going to get that if she held onto humanity with such a hard grasp. She could do so much if she just let go of her compassion for others. Why couldn’t she see that society didn’t deserve her?

While he kept thinking, 69 made his way into the room. “Boss?”

Chaos breathed in, looking over at him, “What do you have to report?” He asked brokenly. “Not that it matters…”

69 frowned, going over to him and handing him his phone, “They’re getting closer.” He said, watching as Chaos took the phone and began flipping through the pictures.

His blood began to boil at the sight of another man embracing _his Lady_. He glowered at the face and handed the phone back to him. This man was the cause of all of his problems. She wouldn’t have been like this if it weren’t for _him_.

“Oh, someone’s going to die.”


	6. A Life for a Life

The first one Ren had alerted to his new living arrangements was Kenny, because at that point in time Kenny was the only one Ren could trust. Chaos had fully deceived him, he couldn’t go back to that. Thankfully he allowed him to move out without protest, but Ren didn’t quite understand just why Chaos was being so calm about it.

Now Ren was living in a studio apartment, the only one he could find in such a short amount of time. Thankfully Ren had enough money to make the first and last month’s deposit, and it’s not like Chaos would be missing eight hundred dollars. The next thing on his mind was looking for a job, because no longer being a Chaos villain meant that he was back to being a civilian. Well, a civilian with fancy and futuristic weapons in his storage.

He couldn’t be a hero, he wouldn’t be wanted there to begin with. Being a villain was out of the question because apparently to be a villain meant giving up all humanity and compassion for human beings. He wasn’t going to go down that road, not anymore.

So, now he was indeed Renzo Diaz, and thankfully he had this identity to fall back on, though it now meant that he had to find a way to pay for college somehow, perhaps he could earn a grant. He was smart enough.

Before he could think any more about it his doorbell went off, and Ren stopped moving the dividers to his bedroom and hurried over to the door. A smile graced his features and he was presented with his favorite person at the moment. Kenny smiled back at him, looking around the room.

“Dude nice place.” He said, raising his hands to show him a bottle. “I brought you a housewarming gift. Now, what did you say happened?”

Ren took the bottle and looked at it, seeing that it was whiskey. “Oh, I broke up with my boyfriend…” He looked nervous, because he had never once mentioned that he had a boyfriend.

Kenny stared at him for a while before laughing, taking a moment to go over and hug him. “Good for you, man.”

Ren was confused at the gesture, blinking owlishly but saying nothing about it. “Hah…I guess you found out that I’m into dudes.” He was trying to change the subject.

Kenny pulled away and winked at him, “I’m into _everyone_.”

A blush came to his cheeks and Ren nodded, looking away. Okay, two subject changes, right. “Care for a tour?” He questioned, really wanting to change that subject.

Kenny looked around again, “I don’t think I need one, it all looks visible to me.” He grinned, “We should you know, celebrate this.”

“Celebrate what?” Ren was confused.

“Celebrate this.” He gestured, “Your own apartment, it’s a big step.” Either he was good at hiding things or he was genuinely happy for him, which for Kenny it was both, but Ren had no idea in what way. “Lets take you out to eat, my treat.”

Ren looked flustered at the suggestion, shaking his head, “We don’t have to—“

“Too late.” Kenny grasped his hand, “I’ve already decided. Just choose a place once we get into the car.”

“Uh…I hope it’s your car…” He said sheepishly, “I don’t really have one anymore.”

Kenny kept his grin, “I have something.”

* * *

It was a beat-up old Ford F100 that looked like it was brought back from the dead, painted in an ungodly orange color. Ren loved it already, because it screamed Kenny.

“So, where to?” Kenny asked as Ren got into the truck, finding the seatbelt. Ren thought hard about it, not really coming up with any ideas. “IHOP? I don’t know?”

“IHOP it is.” Kenny started the truck, driving them to the destination. Ren didn’t actually expect him to go to IHOP but there it was, The International House of Pancakes sitting there practically glowing. His stomach seemed to catch up to his eyes and growled immediately, making Kenny laugh. They parked and went in, having to wait for a moment before a table was ready.

“Now, what do you want?”

Ren thought about it, looking over the menu. “Everything here looks delicious, actually, I wouldn’t know—“

“How about the cupcake pancakes?” Kenny smiled sincerely, and Ren found it on the menu, smiling wide. This was his favorite item back when he was Alice. How did Kenny know? He looked at the other for a moment, chucking. He was in too much of a good mood to even think about it.

“Alright.” Ren set his menu down, already having fun just sitting here.

It was a stark contrast between Kenny and Chaos that Ren was starting to pick out. Kenny was casual and relaxed, he had a loving heart of gold that was open to anyone. Chaos was cold and cruel sometimes, often callous. He was only kind when it suited him. Kenny…was kind, to everyone, no matter what.

Ren continued to think about it while they waited for their food, exchanging words. Ren liked listening to Kenny, he had the kind of voice you could fall asleep to. He wondered how Kenny was in bed, but the last thing he wanted to do was broach that topic. The last time he got into bed hurriedly with someone, he ended up faking his own death and becoming a villain.

“What’re you thinking about?” Kenny asked then after Ren had finished his pancakes, the man staring out of the window in silent contemplation.

“Just…” Ren glanced at him, looking away just as quickly. “Just thinking about how I love spending time with you.”

Kenny smiled slowly, “Yeah…I do too. With you.” He didn’t expect he would be enjoying himself more than he should have been. Alice wasn’t like anyone else he has met, and he began to regret not giving her the chance when she asked to spend time with him outside of the mask. But, he honestly could see himself spending more and more time with Alice, and hopefully she would come back to stay.

The two of them left the restaurant happy, Ren feeling like he hadn’t been this happy in a while. The two drove home listening to the radio, and Ren began to sing along to the music, making Kenny laugh. It was a picture-perfect moment up until he had stopped at the street where Ren lived on.

Kenny went to Ren’s side, getting the door like a gentleman. “So I have great news.” He said then.

What other news would make this day even better? Ren grinned, “What?”

“Rumor around Tweek Bros. is that Lizzie Baker has decided to hold a concert at SPU.” Kenny watched as shock overtook Ren’s features. “You said you liked her, right?”

“L-Like? I love her.” Ren said quietly, “You don’t know how much.”

He knew how much, “I was able to get some tickets to her show, because I knew a guy who owed me a favor.” At the look of Ren’s excitement Kenny looked joyful. “Do you…wanna go with me?”

“Do I wanna go with you?” Ren smacked his arm, “No shit I want to go with you!”

“Then it’s a date—“

Kenny felt his heart stop, suddenly screaming at Alice at the top of his lungs, shoving her into the truck before an oncoming car slammed into him, tearing the door from its hinges. Alice felt the car graze the side of the truck and screamed, curling up into the seat until the noise was gone.

“Kenny?” She was already screaming, ducking out and seeing a heavy streak of blood trailing along the car that slammed into him, it was stationary before the driver inside of it decided to haul ass, running over the body as they left. “KENNY!” What was now exposed to her was the lifeless and bloodied lump of what was once her friend. Her knees buckled and she collapsed, her whole body shaking at the knowledge of what just happened. He was dead, he pushed her out of harm, he saved her life, he was dead. He was dead and his blood was touching her hands, soaking into her jeans and she could see a bloody stump nearby that used to be his hand. It made her throw up, doubling over and crying hard. She didn’t hear the sirens or the crowd of people that surrounded the scene, she didn’t feel the EMT that ushered her into the ambulance and he couldn’t make sense of anything anymore.

He had called Alice’s name before he was killed.

* * *

The nurses said it was shock, and that’s what was written down. An uber had taken her home from the hospital, using the radio to clear out the uncomfortable silence. She couldn’t cry anymore, she stopped two hours ago when the numbness settled in. She couldn’t figure out why she was so bothered by it. The car was meant to hit her, and he took the hit. Kenny, a man she just had gotten so comfortable with, had actively sacrificed himself to keep her alive. Kenny, who was now in the morgue. Kenny, who bought her breakfast just earlier. Kenny, whose blood was still staining the pavement. Kenny, who just taken her to see his sister a day ago.

Oh god, what about _Karen_?

She didn’t really know when she moved from the car to her bed, she didn’t really care. She had taken off the clothes that were ruined and laid in just her bra and panties. The air was cold, because if she closed the window then she wouldn’t feel the cold air and that would mean she couldn’t feel anything and she needed to feel _something_.

It was after three when she burst into tears again, sobbing quietly into the mattress. It was quite some time before she eventually cried herself to sleep, but sleeping was hard when all she saw was the hit-and-run and the gruesome carnage.

Eventually the sun came back up, and it meant that she had to actually get up and go to school. She couldn’t bring herself to care, staring at one of the boxes in her room and sighing. Skipping sounded so good right now, because at least then she didn’t have to go to Tweek Bros. where everyone would probably know what had happened. She couldn’t start crying again, not there.

The phone buzzed to life, and she sighed. Chaos had been trying to call her constantly ever since what had happened, which told her that the cops found her emergency contact information. She didn’t want to deal with him but he was probably worried. Alice picked it up, frowning at Kenny’s number displayed on the screen and answered it. Her heart stammered in her chest. Who would be calling from his number? Shakily she brought the phone to her ear, “W-Who’s this?”

“Alice!”

Her eyes widened.

“I was just wondering if you wanted a ride to the college, I could treat you to another coffee.” Kenny’s voice was so light and funny, a stark contrast to the fact that he was supposed to be dead. Her breath hitched and a small cry escaped her before she dropped the phone.

She still could hear him, calling her name and actually starting to panic before hanging up entirely. She continued to stare at the phone for at least twenty minutes, her heart pounding and wondering if she was actually starting to hear things. The doorbell started to ring then, almost furiously. Alice stood up to peer out the window, making an incoherent noise when she caught sight of the orange truck on the curb. Her breaths were coming in short bursts, hurrying over to the door and touching the knob, hoping to God this wasn’t a dream.

“Alice!” It was Kenny’s voice. Kenny was here. Kenny was alive. Alice opened the door, unable to speak while Kenny was still, staring at her like she was the answer to life’s mysteries. She couldn’t stand anymore, the sight of his living breathing body making her legs buckle and she collapsed again, the tears in her eyes escaping again.

“You--you’re not alive. You’re dead!” Alice said shakily, whimpering when he suddenly embraced her into a tight hug. “You’re dead…” She said it again, weaker now. He was dead, but he was warm, he was solid. He was crying.

“You remembered. Holy fuck you remembered.” He breathed, holding her like she was about to disappear. “I’m so, so sorry.”

It was only then that something triggered her memories. Alice clung to Kenny desperately, sorting through her shock and remembering something, that someone she knew had this ability already, and she froze.

“Yo-you’re Mysterion.”

* * *

It had been a full hour of nothing but shock and silence, Alice trying to comprehend that Kenny, the man she knew, was the famed Mysterion. The same person who was tasked to protect her in the first place, the same person who got mad that she wanted to test her weapons, the same person who had been her closest friend for two weeks.

“You…knew.” She was on the couch, laying next to Kenny, unable to get mad or angry. He had saved her from being hit by a car, how could she be angry at him after saving her life? In any normal situation, she should be offended and hurt.

“I’m sorry.” Kenny whispered, still in shock that Alice had remembered his death. No one had remembered his death before, not even his Freedom Pals’ friends. So far, she was the first one…she was special. “I just wanted to help you, and you looked like you needed a friend.”

Alice put her hands on her face, “Why didn’t you tell me in the first place?”

“I doubt you would have talked to me if I had told you. You closed yourself off and Chaos had his influence on you.”

“I…just felt so…everyone was against me, of course I did what I did.”

Kenny looked at her, “If I was in your situation I’d probably react badly also, you felt like everyone just wanted to use you.”

“Everyone did just want to use me.” Alice’s voice cracked, “And when I tried to do something good I was attacked and pushed away.”

Kenny knew that was a jab at him, and he sighed, “I apologize for that, but I was afraid that you’d get hurt or taken advantage of… It was my job to protect you, Alice.”

Alice curled up, staring at the far wall. Perhaps she was too hard on him. “You were always looking out for me.” She recalled the moment she met Kenny, after spilling her heart out to Mysterion. He _was_ trying to be there for her, she just didn’t see it. “I’m sorry.” She whispered.

“There’s no need.” Kenny reached over and ran his fingers though her hair, “Now, what are you going to do?”

Alice closed her eyes at the feel of his touch, sighing. “I can’t be Alice…I just can’t. Living as Renzo Diaz has been so freeing for me. I’ve never had to second guess everyone’s friendship and I haven’t ever been in the spotlight. I’m _normal_.”

“You can be Alice Horowitz and still be normal.” Kenny said soothingly, “The weapons you make, they don’t have to be contracted to the military and you don’t have to be the target of crime organizations. You can still do good in this world, even if it’s in secret. If you really want to be Psychotique, then you can do some good at any time, just say the word.”

Alice thought about Stan, Wendy, and most of all, Kyle. Their counter-identities and how much she disliked them. “They won’t accept me, and I still hate Kyle for what he did.”

Kenny scooted closer so he could have Alice lay her head on his lap. “They are worried about you, it might not look like it from the last time you all talked, but they want you to be okay. The funeral was hard for all of them, they honestly thought you died…”

That just made Alice feel guilty, “I…” She paused, “What if I want to be a civilian? Will that change our friendship?” She looked up at him, frowning. “I don’t want to lose this.”

“Honestly I don’t want you to lose this either.” Kenny trailed his hand along her cheek. “You’re the only person on this planet who remembers my death. I don’t want to lose you.”

That made her laugh hollowly, “I was devastated…”

“Your reaction was what I wanted the most out of anyone, instead of people walking up to me saying ‘Hey dude’ as if they didn’t see me get my head blown off just a day ago.” Kenny leaned back in his seat, “You actually cried…and that means a lot more to me than you know.”

“You saved me.” Alice couldn’t stop looking at him, “You shoved me into the truck and took the hit…”

“Because I knew that I would come back.” Kenny replied, “You’re not me, your life is too precious to me to let it end.”

Alice shifted until she was sitting again, tearing up while her eyes stayed on him. “I can…see what I can do. About being Alice, about being Psychotique…it’s the least I can do for what you’ve done for me.”

Kenny smiled, reaching over so he could pull her into his lap, hugging her waist. “Until then, I wouldn’t mind just sitting here, talking.”

Alice leaned against him, laughing. “We’ve been talking for two weeks.”

“Well now that there’s nothing hidden between us we can talk about even more now, can we?” Kenny grinned, “Let’s make the most of it.”

The two continued to talk into the afternoon, unknowing of the hidden bug that was planted into the lamp beside the couch.

Never have a minion help you move into an apartment.


	7. The Fall of Professor Chaos?

It was an event that caught student’s attention immediately when it was posted. The tickets were sold-out quickly, everyone knew that Lizzie Baker was staying in South Park but they never expected for her to be arranging a show. It was a quick notice with little to no time to prepare for advertisement, but word of mouth was fast in SPU and everyone knew about it in about a few hours by the power of internet and text messages.

The concert was dated for at least five days after the tickets were sold, which was strange considering how a concert worked, but for Kenny, he wouldn’t have been happy if it was later rather than sooner. At first it was an emergency, a last ditch effort if Alice had decided to not go back to the side of good, but out of a terrifying circumstance came a miracle that had opened so many doorways. It was a mixed blessing of sorts, being struck by that car.

They still didn’t know who it was that had done it…

Alice was still hesitant to go out as anyone other than Renzo Diaz, unable to come to terms with actually coming back from the dead. With her talents it was easy to reverse all the documents of her being deceased, but she still didn’t know if it was worth the trouble. Alice Horowitz had left so much behind.

Being invited to her sister’s concert filled her with so many mixed emotions. She loved her sister, but she wouldn’t be able to talk to her, would she? Elizabeth still thought that Alice was dead, how would she feel if she found out it was a lie? Would she be hurt or scorned? Would it bring a wedge into their relationship or demolish it completely?

She didn’t know what to do, and despite Kenny’s help, she was unable to make a decision. Becoming Psychotique again, that was also a place where she wasn’t sure of as well, since most of her former friends were superheroes. Could she be able to get over the initial hurt they caused her? Could she even forgive _Kyle_? She was still angry with what he had done, because it nearly cost her her life’s work. All of those weapons were her children, she created them from nothing but an idea. The fact that he didn’t hesitate to do that to her still got under her skin.

Kenny was a saint, because through all of this he was kind and patient with her. He understood what she was going through, what she went through, and she regret never giving him a chance and blindly following Chaos. Chaos had only given her the right lines and did his best to convince her that humanity wasn’t worth it but he was wrong on so many levels. She still believed in the good of people, she still believed in being good. Kenny showed her what real good was, and for that she was forever thankful. She wouldn’t have realized her mistake if she had never gotten closer to Kenny.

Alice slid the wig onto her hair and sighed, gazing in the mirror at his blue-green eyes that looked so foreign to her. The identity of Renzo Diaz seemed so fake now, like he was only a security blanket she could use to hide away from everyone. Her eyes lingered on her form for a moment longer until the doorbell tore her away from her thoughts. That would be Kenny, having come to pick her up. She couldn’t help but smile, because every time Kenny was around she always found a reason to smile.

When she opened the door he was grinning, “Ready for our date?”

Alice flushed. Right. This was technically her and Kenny’s first date. All the nerves she failed to feel before were bubbling up inside of her now, and she nodded, double-checking the sweater vest she was wearing. “I-I think I’m ready.” She replied anxiously, unable to look at anything other than him.

Kenny could sense her nerves and chuckled, reaching forward to take her hand, “Not used to taking it slow are you?”

No, she wasn’t. With Chaos she had slept with him even before the first date, and as much as she wanted to jump Kenny and show him a good time she didn’t want to ruin anything by being too fast. She had never felt like a nervous virgin before but there was a first time for everything.

Kenny pulled her to him and moved to adjust Alice’s collar, “Now are you ready to go see your sister?”

“Anything but.” Alice said honestly.

“She dedicated the concert to you, it’d be wrong if you didn’t go.” Kenny smiled at her, and Alice looked away quickly to shut and lock the door, following him to the truck that was parked at the curb.

“A memorial concert requires for someone to be dead, I’m not.” She argued, getting into the truck. Kenny only chuckled.

“All the more reason for you to tell her you’re not dead.” He reasoned, starting the truck up and driving off. Alice only shrugged, looking out the window as he took them to the college. She was filled with anxiety, knowing that she would have to come out to her own sister and show her that she was alive eventually. The fact that her sister was normally a volatile person is what scared her. She would be more than pissed off at what Alice had done and wouldn’t spare any expense in lecturing her for as long as possible until Alice finally understood her misdeeds.

The ride to the college was filled with growing anticipation, mostly because she didn’t know what would happen once she stepped into that auditorium. Though, the only good thing right now was that Kenny was with her, giving her a supportive hand the entire way. He had promised to help her through this, and like the good person that he was, he was making good on that promise.

She still hadn’t heard anything from Chaos, which told her a lot more than if he did say anything. It wasn’t really good to begin with. He didn’t really love her, did he?

Did that mean Chaos just wanted to use her?

Alice’s blood ran cold at the thought.

As soon as they left the parking lot she realized just how popular her sister had become, seeing the long line into the auditorium that held so many fans. Eager music enthusiasts, orchestra nerds, Tweek and Craig, it was amazing just how many people in South Park was a fan of her sister. She could even spot Ike Broflovski in the queue, talking to one of his friends. Something about the crowd began to energize her and scare her at the same time, and she was torn on what to do.

“Is it too late to go home?” Alice asked then, promptly turning around.

Kenny intercepted her before Alice could get away, laughing. “Just calm down.”

“Kenny!”

Alice winced, her eyes trailing over to the three people she hardly wanted to encounter tonight. Kyle, Stan, and Wendy.

“Kenny you’ve just made it.” Stan went up to him and slapped him on the back, grinning. “We were keeping a spot warm for you in the line.”

At the sight of Renzo Kyle quirked his eyebrow, seemingly judging him on why the man was with his friend, “I didn’t know you knew Renzo.” Kyle said then.

Alice did her best not to look at Kyle, feeling tempted to say something snide and crass right then and there. Kenny caught her reaction quickly and went between the two. “He and I have been meeting in secret.” Kenny said then, wagging his eyebrows. “Ya know, makeout stuff.”

Kyle recoiled with a grimace, “Gross, dude.”

Alice, however, turned to slap Kenny’s arm, “We have not!” She cried out.

“Not _yet_.” Kenny countered with a grin, leaving Alice standing there flustered. She did her best not to smack him again, “You’re an ass.” She muttered, turning away.

Kenny smirked and leaned forward, whispering. “I made you forget about your sister, now, did I?”

Kyle only watched on, staring at the two in disbelief. Not him or the others knew that Renzo was Alice in disguise, well, not yet. Stan only laughed while Wendy looked concerned, because not once did their friend ever mention that he was spending time with Renzo Diaz…

Unless…

Wendy’s eyes widened in sudden recollection and shock, realizing what was going on and just who Renzo really was. She looked over to Stan and Kyle, wondering if she should say anything, before deciding against it. If Kenny was working on trying to get Alice back on their side, she would probably ruin it by telling the other two the truth.

She watched Alice for a while, how Kenny and her were interacting. Watching his playful banter and her flustered responses. She smiled, because this was the first time she’s ever seen Kenny get close to anyone other than his inner circle of friends, and this was the first time she’s seen Alice act so natural. Would have all of this gone differently if the two of them had gotten closer three months ago? She had a feeling that a lot would have changed, and the biggest change would be that Alice wouldn’t have let herself be lured in by Chaos.

It wasn’t long until Alice realized she was being stared at, turning to see Wendy watching the two of them. She smiled sheepishly and turned away, unable to meet the girl’s eyes. Kenny caught that and moved to pat her back, “You’re doing good.” He said only to her, “Just a little longer.”

The queue to get into the auditorium took what she thought was hours, and being next to her former friends was almost unbearable. She knew she’d have to come out and expose her identity to them as well, and apologize, as what her and Kenny had discussed beforehand. She’d have to apologize to a lot of people, one of them would be Tweek. Just having to beg for forgiveness from the one person she appreciated the most made her feel sick from the nerves. At least Kenny was there to help soften the blow.

Finally, after a while longer they were able to find their seats. Kenny sat next to Alice, her three former friends sitting behind them. She didn’t know why they were there, but she had to remind herself that these were Kenny’s friends too. She sunk further into the seat, whining slightly and ignoring how Kenny chuckled at her expense.

“Shut it.” She murmured.

“It’ll be okay.” Kenny said reassuringly, “You’re going to be okay.”

“That’s what you say.” Alice whined.

Kenny would have gone further but the lights had dimmed after that, the curtains opening up. Alice sat up straighter now, staring at the stage. It was beautifully decorated with faux stone and vines, it nearly looked like an enchanted forest setting. No one was on the stage, not just yet, the spotlights remaining dim until there was a few notes that flittered through the air.

The back lighting dawned like the morning sun and the forefront lighting dimmed even lower, and a woman had twirled out, wearing a long flowing green skirt and a black turtleneck. Under her chin was the violin and she played as she moved, dancing out onto the stage while she played the tune before stopping at the center. When she finally stopped playing the audience began to react accordingly, some people cheering. Elizabeth only smiled, the lack of lights meaning she could see the people in the auditorium.

“Welcome.” She spoke up then, her mic already settled by a headset. “Tonight is a special night, I’m going to be playing for one person specifically. She cannot be here to listen, however, so please, listen for her, and perhaps she will be able to hear through the emotions in your hearts.”

She put the violin back under her chin and began to play, only for the dimmed lights to illuminate the stage and everything around it. Elizabeth stopped before she could continue, not having anticipated the lights to come back on. “What—“

There was suddenly a booming laughter, an ugly dark laughter that cut through everything. Elizabeth stopped and looked around, unable to see anything.

Kenny and the others recognized the laughter immediately, and Alice finally fell into attention. “What—“

“Well, well, well.” The voice was unmistakeable, and the spotlights directed themselves to a lone figure walking out onto the stage, “We’re all having a lovely gathering, aren’t we?”

“Chaos!” Wendy cried out, but Stan caught her arm and pulled her down as soon as she stood.

“Not here!” He whispered harshly.

Kenny looked around, starting to notice something different. Among the civilians in the audience were minions, the lot of them finally standing while everyone began to scream.

“This was set up.” He hissed.

Elizabeth backed away from Chaos, watching as he continued to move forward, when she finally bolted towards the back stage Chaos snapped his fingers, “Grab her!” He shouted, and there was a sudden noise, a sound of a fight and wood smashing.

“Elizabeth!” Alice shot up at once, hearing everything before there was silence. “Liz—“

Chaos chuckled, “Oh, scared for your sister?” His eyes went towards the voice and the spotlight beamed down on Alice and Kenny, “I should be too, especially since all of you are outnumbered.” He cracked his knuckles, “I see about six superheroes in this audience. Wonder Storm, Super Guy, Human Kite, Call Girl, Toolshed,” With every name another light shone down upon the specific person, “and last of all, my greatest nemesis, Mysterion.” When the light shone down upon Kenny the blonde shot to his feet, “Oh, thought I’d never figure out who _you_ would be, huh? No, you actually did it for me.” He smiled wickedly, turning his attention to Alice, “Never think that my minions wouldn’t take the opportunity to bug up your new apartment when they had the chance, my Lady.”

“What do you want, Chaos?” Kenny shouted.

“I think it would be simple.” Chaos smiled, “All I want is my Lady, now, if she returns to me without any problems then I might allow all of you to leave here unscathed. Though…I feel that some punishments need to be placed.”

“Punishments for what?” Alice cried out, “Are you really being this petty over a breakup?”

“Because you didn’t break up with me!” Chaos shouted, pointing at Kenny, “There wouldn’t have been a separation if HE didn’t wedge himself between the two of us. We were perfectly fine until KENNY MCCORMICK decided to play SAVIOR.”

The civilians suddenly began to scream, the minions surrounding them taking out guns. The closest ones to every superhero taking aim to those mentioned prior. Tweek let out a shriek and Alice winced badly, “You’re wrong!” Alice shouted, “I left you because you deceived me from the start. You were only out to use me!”

“I LOVED YOU!” Chaos shouted, “All I want is you to see that these people don’t deserve your talents, your greatness. These people, these, PIGS,” He gestured to the civilians, “they don’t deserve Alice Horowitz. You can see it too if you just let go of your empathy and kindness, all you have to do is _let go_.”

“Letting go of what makes me me doesn’t make me what I am anymore. You want me to be someone that I’m not. You want me to be as cruel and heartless as you are and I can never be that!” She was screaming now, glaring at him. “What do you plan to do? Are you going to take me by force? That’s not love, Butters. That’s control!”

Chaos inhaled sharply at the mention of his former name, “What I plan to do is to take away EVERYTHING that’s a threat to both of us. I’ll start by killing off who you love!” Tweek shrieked again.

“IF YOU HARM THEM—“

“ALICE!”

Kenny caught her arm before she could climb over the seat, catching her attention, “Look around us.”

Alice did look around, seeing that minions were poised to shoot Stan, Wendy, and Kyle. Tweek and Craig were within sight, two minions on them as well. Tweek was cowered in Craig’s arms. She turned back to Chaos, glaring at him. “This won’t bring me back to you.” She told him harshly, “If you think this will bring me back then you’re wrong.”

Chaos’s eye twitched, “I know, because I’ve done it once already. This is the punishment I was talking about.”

“Wait—“ Alice held up her hand, “You…did this once already?”

“I was the one who slammed him with the car.” Chaos hissed out, “I did not assume that the bastard would come back.”

The revelation that it was Chaos who had killed Kenny made Alice’s blood boil and she tried to get out of the aisle again, but Kenny grasped her by the waist.

“No!”

“Let me go I’m going to kill him!” She screamed.

“Think about your surroundings! He’ll kill you!”

“I DON’T CARE!”

“Minions.” Chaos said aloud, looking along his men, “Kill the superheroes.”

“Butters no!”

“Too late Alice!” Chaos shouted, “This is what it’s come down to! If I can’t have you then I’m not allowing anyone else to!”

“That’s not going to happen.” A voice pierced the air.

Chaos halted for a moment, looking around, “Wh—“

“Did you honestly think that this was going to go by without a problem?” The voice boomed again, and finally Chaos could see it, no, _her_. Standing on the catwalk over the entire auditorium, her violin in hand.

“ _You_.” He hissed, glaring at her.

“Me.” Masquerade smiled slowly at him, raising the violin to her chin. “Now, I would appreciate it if everyone disarmed themselves.” She plucked and then ran her finger along the strings, creating an ear-piercing noise that immediately affected every minion there. They dropped their guns in favor of holding their hands to their ears, screaming from the pain.

Chaos began to scream as well, also affected by the sound. “I should have killed you!” He cried out, crumpling to his knees.

“Pity you didn’t achieve that.” She retorted, taking her bow and running it slowly across the strings, “Now, this will hurt.” She then began a slow torturous song, one that seemed to enrapture every villain in the room. The minions were screaming while Chaos was trying his best to plug his ears.

Alice managed to get out of Kenny’s grasp then, hearing him cry out her name but she ignored him, using every seat to jump above everyone until she made it to the front stage, climbing it and pulling her sleeve, exposing a wrist watch. She went over to him and grasped him by the collar, pressing her wrist into his neck.

“We’re through.”

An electric shock suddenly passed through him straight from the wrist watch, and Chaos screamed even harder, the electricity being enough to cripple him and he ended up passing out from the pain. Alice raised her head and waved at Masquerade, “You can stop now!”

Masquerade chuckled at the sight of Alice, even if she was disguised as another person. When she stopped the only sounds that were left were groans and whimpers of pain from minions all around. Kenny and the other superheroes got to their feet, looking along the crowd. A few were filming everything while others were talking and pointing at them.

“Doctor Timothy is going to have to do some damage control.” Stan told him immediately.

“Hey, if he could erase Fatass’s memory of Mysterion, then surely he can handle a crowd of civilians.”

“Until then, we have some people to imprison.” Kenny pointed his thumb to where Alice was standing over Chaos, wincing when she kicked him in the stomach. “Babe!”

“Let me have my payback!” Alice cried out from the stage.

* * *

When the police came, Chaos was arrested. Doctor Timothy had received the message from Kenny and had also arrived with Fastpass and Tupperware, and made it mandatory that every civilian in the auditorium had to pass them while they took care of any damaging evidence and memory of the identities of everyone else.

The only one who was left alone was Alice herself, but only to the fact that she knew everything beforehand and Kenny did not want her to forget as she remembered the most important thing. When the police had left with all the minions and their weapons Alice was left with no other choice than to face her sister.

Only, Masquerade was there and not Elizabeth, and Alice had finally decided to remove her wig and glasses, while Masquerade removed her mask.

“You owe me a new violin.”

* * *

**_THE FALL OF LADY CHAOS, Self-Proclaimed Supervillain Reforms, Alice Horowitz Resurrected!_ **

_These past few weeks have been a doozy readers, first the Coon is incarcerated for terrorist crimes against South Park and then Professor Chaos is thrown in the slammer for taking hostages at a concert. You’d think that would be it for the supervillains, but no, we have Lady Chaos, who has now reformed herself and her evil ways. Yes, Psychotique is back and here to stay, and she brings with her a new super-pal and my new crush, Masquerade._

_Folks may know Masquerade from her tours around Europe and Asia, she isn’t no newbie out on the streets. This hot and sexy new superhero can string a song right into your hearts as well as kick your ass at the same time, now that’s my kind of woman. Rumor has it that Psychotique and Mysterion are quite close, to which I say good for you Mysterion! Also, Masquerade is dating the Human Kite, and to that I say you can do better! What can a man with laser eyes give you? Try a man with a large—_

_On the other end of the Entertainment buzz we hereby present you the resurrection of Alice Horowitz. The famous engineer that had captured the government and many organizations with her inventions has risen from the grave! We do not know the details to this sudden appearance but we can tell you that she’s the real deal and not an imposter. She’s been sighted with none other than Lizzie Baker, and surprise who knew the two of them were twins! They’re a man’s fantasy come true, two women with the brains and elegance and bodies that could make a man—_

_We’ve tried to get a comment from both of the twins, and while Lizzie Baker had declined we have gotten word from our former government superstar, here’s what Alice Horowitz has to say:_

_“I was dealing with something personal that skewed my view of humanity until I was lucky enough to meet a very special person, and he did his best to allow me that second chance to do the right thing. If I have any regrets then it’s believing someone I thought to be a friend who turned out to be nothing but a villain.”_

_Word is that Alice Horowitz has given up inventing in order to be a chemist, and is one of the main scientists working on the cure to the street drug known as Candy. Sales of Candy had dropped ever since the incarceration of Professor Chaos, but the victim toll has risen to the milions. We’re going to keep you updated on her progress, readers, and remember to say no to drugs!_

_This has been your faithful editor, C-Dog Donovan, with your weekly South Park Entertainment buzz!_

Alice put down the paper in her hands, rolling her eyes. “Donovan needs to keep his dick in his pants.”

Kenny grinned, taking the paper to read it, “I don’t know, he always knows what’s going on.”

“And you say he’s a superhero.” Elizabeth queried, looking at her own paper, “Mosquito.”

“South Park Entertainment _buzz_.” Kyle chuckled, “He knows everything that happens, and since he’s a member of the press if anything comes out on us superheroes that links us to our identities he does his best to separate both of them. So far he’s our most important member.”

Kenny looked aghast, staring at Kyle like he smacked his dog. “I thought I was your most important member!”

“Shut up, Kenny.” Kyle shoved him.

The four of them were sitting at Tweek Bros., which at this point was a safe-haven for all the superheroes in their counter-identities. Tweek was at the counter, filling up an extra-large cup with white-chocolate mocha, something Alice could smell from their table.

“So how long are you staying?” She asked her sister, “I heard you cancelled your world-tour.”

“I haven’t decided yet.” Elizabeth took a sip out of her own latte. “I’m making it up to my fans though, those who had a ticket are going to get reimbursed and given a chance to catch my next concert with no charge.”

“You just don’t want to leave _lover boy_.” Kenny glanced over at Kyle, laughing when the ginger smacked him.

“Just because we’re an item—“

“Hey,” Alice interrupted him, “What if Liz stays here?”

Elizabeth fell silent, confused as to what she meant. “What?”

“Instead of going back out on tour, how about staying here for a year or so. You’re always on tour and you never give yourself a break.”

Kyle smiled, “She’s right, you know—“

“Don’t take her side!” Elizabeth hissed, “Just two weeks ago she wasn’t even speaking to you.”

“Until I talked her into forgiving him.” Kenny offered, smirking.

“And for that I thank you.” Kyle turned his attention back to Elizabeth, “But the point of the matter is, Alice is right. Have you thought of giving yourself a break?”

The woman looked anxious, “I prefer being busy as to…not working.”

“Liz.” Alice reached out to grasp her hand. “Give it a break, I think mom would like you to go visit her instead of a Skype call.”

“You can take Kyle.” Kenny grinned again, earning a glare from both of them.

“It’s too early for Kyle to meet her!” Elizabeth cried out.

“God, shut up.” Came a nasally monotone from the other end of the cafe, “We can hear you.”

Alice turned to Craig, where he was sitting with Token and Jimmy, flipping him off before turning back to the others.

“There is the alternative.” She said then, smiling, “You could just take Kyle with you on the tour.”

“That’s also too fast.” Elizabeth did her best not to shout this time, “If that’s how you’re going to be then I’m just going to take a year off and stay here.” By the time she stopped talking she could see the shit-eating grin on Alice’s face. Elizabeth glared at her, “You did that on purpose.”

“That I did.” Alice grinned.

Kenny and Kyle broke out into laughter and Elizabeth turned her eyes onto her latte, mumbling something about leaving on the next plane out of the country.

It was then that Tweek finally arrived, holding Alice’s coffee, “Here you go, Alice…”

The woman gave Tweek a bright smile, “Thank you Tweekers. You’re still my favorite.”

“I’m supposed to be your favorite.” Kenny pouted.

“You’re second—“

“GUYS!” A voice startled them from their conversation and everyone turned to the door, where Stan had just burst in from. “We have a problem!”

“W—What is it?” Tweek cried out.

“Professor Chaos broke out of prison.”

* * *

Somewhere on the outskirts of Providence, Rhode Island, a man was sitting in his simple one-bedroom apartment, reading the newspaper from last week. The headline of the paper read PROFESSOR CHAOS BREAKS FREE, and the article was read at least five times. Anxiety ran through him, because when he heard that Chaos had been incarcerated, he was elated and felt like he could go anywhere, but now he was frightened, almost paranoid. What did this mean? Did Chaos know somehow? No, Chaos couldn’t know, could he? Mysterion told him that he’d be safe here. Doctor Timothy made sure to take care of every loose end.

He was just worrying over nothing, was he? His former life as a minion was behind him. He was Isiah Black now, just a random guy that worked at the bar downtown. No, Chaos wouldn’t know about what he did, there was no possible way.

Isiah put down the newspaper and took out a cigarette, lighting it up and inhaling, letting himself relax somewhat. No, Chaos was all the way in Colorado. He was at least across the country. There was no way he could be found.

When there was a sudden knock at the door Isiah nearly jumped, before he convinced himself that it was nothing. Surely it was just his neighbor wanting some milk or something, right? He got up to his feet and went over to the door, “Coming.” He called out, taking a moment to breathe before opening the door.

Isiah felt his blood run cold at the sight of the person before him, the man’s sea-green eyes hard and glaring at him. The man opened his mouth, the cigarette falling out, and he stepped back. “But—“

Chaos cracked his knuckles, keeping his eyes on the man before him, “Did you assume I wouldn’t find out?” He hissed low and threatening, “Be happy, 24, I took time out of my schedule to find you. Now, I think a punishment is in order.”

When Chaos stepped further inside he took out a silenced pistol, shutting the door behind him. There was a blood-curdling scream until something dropped to the floor.

Silence.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This isn't over, and I have an idea for the third and final installment of this series.
> 
> Stay tuned.


End file.
